Senate urges GW to reduce costs of HIV, STd testing

The Student Association Senate passed legislation Tuesday urging the University to lower prices for sexually transmitted disease testing.

Senate members said GW has some of the highest costs for STD testing of any university in the nation or the D.C. area, charging $42 for an HIV test and $60 to test for other diseases. American University, the University of Maryland, New York University and Northwestern University all charge between $10 and $30 for STD and HIV testing.

“I would hate for students not to be tested because of the extraordinarily high price of the service,” said Peter Feldman (U-At Large), a co-sponsor of the bill.

Ben Traverse (U-CCAS) said he hopes the University will grant Student Health Services more money.

“It seems the University is willing to spend money on initiatives that don’t directly benefit students, so I see no reason why they would not fund something that would not only support students but make the entire campus a safer place,” he said.

The Senate Finance and Rules committees will hold a joint meeting on Dec. 12 in the Marvin Center to discuss a student fee increase.

At a Senate meeting last month, WRGW, the GW Class Council and the Program Board proposed to increase the SA fee by 50 cents per credit hour. Students currently pay a $1 per credit hour fee that goes to the SA, which has a $471,000 budget. Under the proposal, 20 cents would go to the SA, with 10 cents going to each of the three groups.

SA President Omar Woodard supported the initiative while some senators said it would take power away from the Senate.

Senator Kyle Spector (ESIA-U), who wrote legislation calling for a $1 per credit hour increase that would increase funding for student organizations while limiting the SA’s internal budget, opposed the proposal but said he looks forward to working with Woodard and student organizations to create a compromise during the joint meeting.

-Brandon Butler