Students in the residence halls may be surprised to find a $48 charge for a technology service fee on their phone bills.

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“Where the hell did that come from?” sophomore business major James McGill asked as he opened his phone bill. “I don’t remember any technology service fee.”

According to Sabrina Hammond, manager of the ITS customer support, the fee covers a multitude of technology services, including DSL or ethernet online access.

“One is the ResTech help desk located in Stevenson North,” Hammond said. “They provide students with repair services, hardware installation, rebuilding and troubleshooting.”

Another service the fee covers includes cyber terminals, located in residence hall lounges and computer labs.

“Neptune, Grant, Lincoln, Douglas and Stevenson all have labs,” Hammond said. “All the phones have been upgraded and have the benefit of the latest phone technology such as call waiting, three-way calling and customer-originated trace for safety concerns.”

The $48 fee is charged to all students living in residence halls each semester.

Students paying the fee have different thoughts about it.

“I don’t think it’s fair that everyone is charged, ’cause not everyone uses it,” said Allison Corso, a junior music education major. “I use it, so I think it is reasonable I get charged for it.”

Many students think the fee is only for Internet access, while it actually applies to many other things.

“Well, considering I don’t own a computer, I find it very unreasonable,” junior finance major Zach Camp said. “I am not agreeing with it at all. I think they should have broken it down if you have a computer or not. I am not happy about it,” Camp said. “I like pay $100 [for two semesters] to have that in your room.”

Hammond reaffirmed that the fee includes more than just the Internet, and the money goes to something useful for every student