Boston University will automatically add a $100 fee to on-campus residents’ 2002-2003 tuition costs for internet use unless students indicate that they do not want to use the high-speed campus network, according to a letter from the BU Office of the Comptroller on-campus residents received yesterday.

If students waive the original fee and decide they want to use campus internet services later in the year, they will be charged $150 for the service, the letter says. The letter claims the additional fee is something ‘many other institutions have done.’

An increase in demand for BU ResNet service, BU’s ethernet network, and the ‘vast improvement in the speed and overall capability of … personal computers and software’ are responsible for the new fee, the notice explains.

‘ResNet at Boston University is among the most capable residential networks anywhere,’ the letter reads.

BU spokesman Colin Riley defended the new charge, saying the fee is ‘necessary because costs for internet service continue to increase.’ Riley also said $150 is a modest fee compared to what one would normally pay for internet service in a year.

‘Students are paying for one year what you would normally pay for internet service in one or two months,’ Riley said.

The letter also says BU students currently get a deal few others get with internet access.

‘Today, customers commonly pay several hundred dollars a year to subscribe to services providing less than one-tenth the capacity ResNet provides each resident at Boston University,’ the letter reads.

Several students said they were not happy about the new fee, after many received the letter in yesterday’s mail.

Bryan Bandy, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences said, he was ‘angry’ when he received the letter, which he said made him wonder ‘what comprises our boarding charge?’

‘I understand board goes toward heating, water and electricity, but for the price we’re paying it should go for more,’ Bandy said. ‘In most normal universities, [board] includes the phone, cable and internet connections, none of which Boston University [will now] provide [for free].’

Scott Wintner, a sophomore in the College of Communication, also said already high housing costs should continue to cover internet access, though he will opt to pay for the service next year.

‘Internet is a service I cannot live without,’ Wintner said.

Jill Wyvill, a freshman in the School of Management, also said internet service is a necessity she will now be forced to pay for.

‘I’m going to have to pay for it,’ Wyvill said. ‘For students in the School of Management, our entire course is online. We don’t receive handouts in class everything we need for the class we need to get online.’

Classes outside SMG are also moving onto the internet more and more, Wyvill said, making the move even more puzzling.

‘Internet should be free for students,’ Wyvill said. ‘All classes are moving toward posting everything online grades, everything. Students deserve free access to this.’

She said the extra costs will put a strain on her financial situation.

‘For me, having to pay for this when my $40,000 a year education depends on it just doesn’t seem right,’ she said. ‘I can’t even afford tuition now.’

Jessica Ventura, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she too was ‘very upset’ when she received the letter because of financial considerations.

‘Now I have to pay more money I do not have,’ Ventura said. ‘I’m here on scholarship. Paying tuition as it is now is a stretch for me this additional fee will make it even harder for me to continue to go here.’

Ventura disagreed with Riley’s characterization of the fee as modest.

‘$150 may not seem like a lot to the administration, but to those of us who are here on scholarship it is a lot,’ she said.

Though CAS sophomore Vanessa Cirmia did not receive the letter yesterday because she is planning on living off campus next year, she said she thought the fee was ‘excessive,’ considering what she will be charged for services off campus.

‘My internet connection for the year will only cost me roughly $160, and this fee will include cable television and phone service along with internet connections for the whole apartment,’ she said.

Wintner said she has heard of other schools charging students for internet access, though she thought they usually get phone and cable service with the same fee.