CIF fund to go toward a new Howard Hall every other semester for the next three years
(Graphic courtesy of UP Marketing & Communication)
By Sarah Hansell, Staff Writer -- hansell14@up.edu
On Feb. 21, the ASUP Senate passed a controversial compromise resolution that will put half of each year's capital improvement fund (CIF) toward the RISE campaign's plan to build a new recreation center.
The other half will go, as usual, toward more immediate physical improvements on campus. The Senate voted 20-11.
The CIF, which is 10 percent of students' government fee, will now go toward a replacement for Howard Hall each fall semester, starting fall 2011, leaving the spring semesters for the CIF's original use.
After three years, the CIF will revert to its original policy.
During the Senate meeting, seven Villa Maria residents spoke against the resolution, and one spoke in favor of it.
Sophomore Austin Veiga believes the CIF money should go toward something that will directly benefit current students.
"How can you tell me that I should spend my money on someone I've never met?" Veiga said.
Senator Walker Ross, a freshman, thinks the vote reflected the preferences of UP students.
"I think it was really representative of the student population," Ross said.
ASUP Vice President Katie Scally, a senior, was pleased with the outcome.
"I think students made a smart choice for current students now and in the future," Scally said.
Vice President for University Relations Jim Lyons thinks ASUP's donation will have a large impact on potential donors to the RISE campaign.
"It's not the amount of the money, it's the statement that it makes," Lyons said.
Director of Recreational Services Brian Dezzani is excited about the student support.
"It really shows how the students feel about getting a (new) recreation center," Dezzani said.
The original resolution called for allocating the entire CIF to the new Howard Hall until it was completely funded. Dissent among the Senate brought members of the executive board to meet with sponsors and opponents of the resolution. Together, they crafted the compromise that is now the current policy.
"I think it's important that both interests are met," Scally said.
The CIF comes from the student government fees. Every semester each student pays a $70 government fee, and $7 from that fee goes toward the CIF.
This semester, the CIF is going toward repairing the Victory Bell outside the Chiles Center and sound improvements for CPB.
At last Monday's meeting, many senators were surprised to find the resolution needed only a simple majority – 50 percent plus 1 – to win, rather than two-thirds.
It was news to the Executive Board as well.
"I found out about that just before the meeting," Scally said.
Scally sees this discovery as a wake-up call for ASUP.
"That's going to cause us to take a harder look at our own policies," Scally said. "We know we ourselves still have improvements to make."
The Executive Board is pleased with the whole process of the resolution, and the interest among students, from campus chatter to feuding Facebook pages.
"That was all just motivated individuals that weren't affiliated with the resolution or anything like that," ASUP Treasurer Ben Thompson, a senior, said of the Facebook pages.
Although this resolution has passed, many senators say the issue will resurface.
If a future Senate decides to overturn the policy, they will also need a simple majority vote, whereas they will need a two-thirds majority vote to suspend the policy for one semester.
"This is not the last we've heard of this resolution," Ross said.
(Graphic courtesy of UP Marketing & Communication)
