What fall, 1995 brings to UB is a matter of More and Less. More parking spaces. Less waiting in lines, and for elevators. More computer terminals, More lab space. Less to work with in office and departmental budgets and unfortunately, More money for tuition and fees.

Cuts made to State University resources during last spring's budget battle have precipitated annual tuition increases of $750 for undergraduates; $1,100 for law, graduate and pharmacy students; and $2,390 for dental, medical and pharmacy students. In addition, students face a new $120 per year Technology Fee, a $150 per year Transportation Fee, up $12, a $150 per year Health Service Fee, up $34, and increases in most dormitory and meal plan charges. Tuition levels were established by agreement of the state legislature and the SUNY Board of Trustees. However, fee levels are established by the UB administration.

While most fees simply reflect increases in costs, according to Provost Thomas Headrick, the new Technology Fee represents a "realization that we are behind in technology and we can't afford to let our lack of resources hinder the quality of educational technology." Fees can not pay directly for educational programs, explained Headrick, but they can be used to support UB's "heavy investment in upgrading technology and computers."

Means exist for students to apply for waivers of some fees. In the case of the new Technology Fee, students who have proof of a Transportation Fee waiver and do not have an account on the central computing system can request a waiver of that fee. Waiver requests can be made in writing to Academic Services, Computing and Information Technology at the Computing Center.

One measure that's lightened wallets around UB in a different way has been introduction of the versatile SUNYCard. Returning students, faculty and staff have been lining up in the Student Union to mug for their new, bar-coded, magnetic-strip ID card which replaces a number of cards currently in use, including student ID cards, library cards, dining service cards and building and residence hall access cards. In addition, the new card can function as a "cashless" debit card good at vending machines and various other locations around campus, including the UB Bookstore. Banking and telecommunications services are also available to cardholders, and new uses are likely to be added in the future.

If you have yet to get your SUNYCard, they are available until 8 p.m. tonight and between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Friday in the Student Union, Room 210 on the North Campus and in Hayes Annex B (Records and Registration area) on the South Campus. After Friday, permanent sites will be open at 230 Student Union and 101 Harriman Hall between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m., Monday-Friday. Most campus vending machines will be equipped to accept the new cards shortly and old student or faculty/staff ID cards will not be accepted in campus libraries after September.

On the North Campus, a large new parking area accommodating more than 250 cars will be open shortly for student and special event parking, according to Ronald Nayler, associate vice president for university facilities. The new lot is adjacent to the Campus Mail building on Augspurger Road, across from the Baird and Slee lots. Also, Nayler adds, several areas have been renovated to yield new classroom space, including the former Norton Cafe and dining area.

The wait for students going from Capen Hall's first-floor Undergraduate Library to the second-floor Science and Engineering Library should now be shorter thanks to a new stairway connecting the two. Previously, the only way to reach the SEL library was via a single bank of overworked elevators, according to Nayler. Also, the outdoor area between Capen Hall and the Cooke/Hochstetter complex has become a public garden, dedicated to the late Pharmacy School Dean Daniel H. Murray. Murray is credited with developing the UB pharmacy school into an institution respected worldwide for its research in pharmaceutical sciences in the 1960s. A sundial, brick pathway and benches will be added to the new garden later this fall.

The South Campus has been completely reenergized. The electrical distribution system there, with a 4,000-volt capacity, was "antiquated and required a great deal of preventive maintenance" according to Nayler. The new system carries a capacity of 23,000 volts. "This will not only better serve the South Campus, but also allow for anticipated future increases in demand," said Nayler.

Renovation work improved classroom and lab space on the South Campus as well, where Diefendorf Hall received its first-ever elevator, making the building now fully handicapped accessible, and the physical space in Diefendorf was upgraded to handle the newly expanded Physical Therapy program. Also, a new Public Computing Lab was added on the second floor.

Near the South Campus, Nayler explained, the first phase of restoration of the Darwin Martin House has begun. Work will begin on structural and masonry repairs to the 90-year-old historic home, said Nayler. The Darwin Martin House is part of a residential complex designed and built just after the turn of the century by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright for a Buffalo businessman. It has been a national historic landmark since 1986 and is considered one of the finest examples of Wright's influential "Prairie Style" of modern domestic architecture. The School of Architecture and Planning is extensively involved in its restoration.