The ASUP capital improvement this semester is seating in the East Side Quad
(Kevin Kadooka -- The Beacon)
By Sarah Hansell, Staff Writer -- hansell14@up.edu
On Nov. 18, the ASUP Executive Board narrowed down the five choices presented to them by the ASUP Senate to one: a patio and picnic table setup between Kenna and Shipstad Halls.
"We think a patio on the East Side Quad kind of creates a gathering space for the students," senior and ASUP President Colin Dorwart said. "We thought, ‘they need a spot over there.'"
ASUP currently plans to set up a patio with four to five picnic tables as a place for students of the East Side Quad to gather.
"UP is all about building community," senior and ASUP Vice President Katie Scally said. "It's not fair to encourage our students to build community when there's no place to gather."
According to freshman and ASUP Senator Kaile Erhardt, this also seems to be the opinion senators received from their constituents, who give ASUP ideas for its capital improvement projects.
"That's all I heard from people, was seating in the East Quad," Erhart said. "I think it was a pretty easy decision because we knew what people wanted."
According to Dorwart and Scally, ASUP plans to use what is left of the $20,000 after building the seating in the East Side Quad for seating in the Academic Quad.
"I do feel a little bit like it doesn't really affect the entire university, not everybody's over here," freshman and ASUP Senator Walker Ross said. "But it is nice, and we're planning on using the leftover money for the Academic Quad."
Seating in the East Side Quad triumphed as this semester's capital improvement over hand dryers, water refill stations, ventilation improvements for The Cove and sound improvements for CPB and KDUP.
"It kind of came down to what's feasible, what do we know that we can actually do," Ross said.
The Executive Board also looked at the impact the capital improvement would have on the university as a whole.
"I think it was the choice that made the most sense and affected the most students in a positive way," Scally said.
However, there has been some controversy.
Ross acknowledges the controversy the choice for the capital improvement this semester has raised.
"It's not always going to go the way that everybody wants it to go. Some people are going to happy and some people aren't going to be," Ross said. "We did the best that we could, considering the options before us, at choosing a good idea."
Some students like the capital improvement.
"It'll be a nice place to hang out," sophomore Tim Tierney said. "I think students will use it."
However, some students disagree.
"I think it's a good idea, it's just that it rains so often here that it might not be the most practical idea," freshman Rachel Van Nes said. "It seems like it might just become a smoker's hangout."
The seating should be completed and ready for students to use sometime during spring semester.
