COLLEGE DISTRICT : Health Fee Draws Complaints

As the Los Angeles Community College District continues to work out the bugs for new health centers at its nine campuses, some students are complaining about the mandatory fees that will cover their costs.

Students were required to pay a $7.50 health services fee to register for classes this semester, in addition to higher tuition fees imposed by the state Legislature.

Christy Cuozzo, a Valley College student, said she practices holistic medicine and has no use for such a center. She said she uses herbs for her ills. “I don’t even take aspirin,” Cuozzo said.

When registering for her classes by mail, Cuozzo said she did not enclose the $7.50.

One of the classes she chose was closed and she was put on a waiting list. The college automatically paid her health fee with the money that would have been used to enroll her in that class, Cuozzo said.

“I had no choice. It’s wrong,” she said. “I’m not going to use it and I don’t think it’s right for them to force it on me.”

At its last meeting, the district board of trustees exempted some students--displaced homemakers, people on welfare, students in contract education and others--from paying the fee. Students who rely solely on prayer for healing also were exempted, but religious reasons, or a belief in holistic medicine, were not considered good grounds for an exemption.

The centers will offer a wide variety of services, said Trustee Kenneth Washington. If Cuozzo broke her finger, “she’d want it set,” he said.

Paula Glover, a former West Los Angeles College student, told trustees that she can’t participate in anything that advocates abortion because of religious beliefs.

“They elected not to include that in the exemptions,” said Washington, who supported exempting people on religious grounds. “I’m only one out of seven members and I frequently don’t win.”

Although he supports some exemptions, Washington said paying the health fee can be compared to paying union dues. “This is just part of being a student in our district now.”

Valley College’s student health center opened on schedule this week. It will provide students with services such as smoking cessation, referrals for free HIV testing and blood pressure screening.

The center will be staffed with trained medical personnel, with a medical doctor on site once a week. It will handle mostly non-emergency situations, said Mary Spangler, acting dean of student services.