By Madiha Rizvi
The Battalion, Texas A&M

(UWire)--Minimum wage will increase by 70 cents in July.

The minimum wage is in the process of increasing in increments, from $5.85 to $6.55 in 2008 to $7.25 in 2009. These amounts are fixed by the Fair Labors Standard Act (FLSA) to protect people from inflation.

"I believe an honest day's work deserves an honest day's pay and the minimum wage increase rewards work, not welfare," said Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Texas. "It had been 10 years since minimum wage workers received a pay raise, the longest time period without an increase since the minimum wage was enacted in 1938."

Edwards said rising consumer costs hit low-wage workers especially hard. The purchasing power of the minimum wage plummeted to its lowest level in more than half a century, leaving millions of families behind.

Texas A&M student workers typically begin their on-campus jobs at minimum wage. Some students said they were happy about the increase, but feared it will make products expensive.

"The higher the minimum wage, the more I am getting paid," said Chris Flores, freshman general studies major. "But that means that everything is getting more expensive and you can buy less. There are positives and negatives.""The higher the minimum wage, the more I am getting paid. But that means that everything is getting more expensive and you can buy less. There are positives and negatives."
-Chris Flores

He said his work gave him spending money for gas, groceries and books.

"My parents can only provide so much. So I have to work to provide for myself," Flores said. "They take care of tuition, I do everything else."

Some students said President Barack Obama's proposal to raise the wages to $9.50 by 2011 could drive the economy.

"It is great because it means more pay. If people are getting paid more, that means they are going to spend more," said Arieth Salazar, a senior psychology major "It is a huge increase with Obama. But by then [2011], the economy should be better."

On the CNN money Web site, Paul LaMonica said $9.50 would amount to a nearly 85 percent increase in the minimum wage in a span of five years. He made the summation that this would not be a favor to small businesses.

Some students at A&M agreed with LaMonica and said the higher minimum wage was going translate to higher unemployment.

"Nine dollars. In two years, if this is going to happen, then maybe all the prices are going to go up," said Elizabeth Smith, a junior accounting major. "There will be taxes on the wealthy and then maybe the economy will even out. In the long run, it might make the dollar value decrease."

According to Phyllis Korkki of The New York Times, the minimum wage 40 years ago would be equivalent to $10.11 today.

Sophia Seiverth, a junior communication major, said it would be a challenge if she had to support herself through college.

"I wouldn't make it through [college], if it weren't for my parents. Imagining myself with a family and me being the sole breadwinner, I could not make it with minimum wage," she said.

Flores said students who support themselves, if there was no minimum wage increase, would need more jobs.

"Other students have to pay for their stuff [groceries, etc.] and minimum wage factors in," he said.

Various departments on campus are dealing with the rising minimum wage by giving raises across the board.

Mike Waldron, associate director of Recreational Sports on campus, said student workers were going to get raises of 70 cents this summer.

"We usually start giving higher salaries a pay period before so there is no confusion about the increase," Waldron said.

He said the bump from $5.15 to $7.25 in summer 2009 is going to have an annual impact cost of $280,000 for the recreational sports budget.