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OPINION & EDITORIAL

A less perfect Union

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by Badger Herald Editorial Board

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Just as this board opposed the Union referendums last March, we ask students to vote "No" once again this week as the Student Union Initiative is put on the ASM ballot.

The referendum, which calls for the renovation of Memorial Union and the demolition and reconstruction of Union South, imposes far too great a burden on the student body. The proposed plan will increase student-segregated fees by up to $96 per semester for as many as 30 years to cover more than half of the initiative's costs.

The majority of current UW students won't use the updated Union facilities; and remarkably, in a couple of decades, their children may still be footing the hefty Union tab should they choose to attend their parents' alma mater.

Presently, students pay about $650 in student-segregated fees, and with the suggested $192 increase, in addition normal tuition hikes, the burden may become unbearable.

It is hard to believe the Wisconsin Union Directorate has no other way of earning the necessary money —- at least to update Memorial Union —- through other avenues. Perhaps by charging more for Union memberships; increasing the prices of special Union events, such as movies and concerts; or upping what patrons pay to enjoy a beer on the terrace, would be a better step toward chipping away at the Union Initiative's price tag. And by implementing such policy changes, those who use the Unions the most would shoulder the cost for the bulk of the improvements.

Some areas of the Memorial Union renovation scheme are urgent and feasible: Improving the building's accessibility and bringing it up-to-date with fire codes are necessary. However, the plan is bloated with superfluous provisions, including addition of a campus parking garage and the restoration of a decorative dome in the Great Hall.

If the plan stands a chance of garnering student approval, the authors of the Student Union Initiative should divide the two Unions into separate proposals and look to additional sources for revenue.

We urge you to vote "No" to an unreasonable plan that would surely place a huge weight on UW students both present and future.

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Anonymous (October 17, 2006 @ 2:19am):

and the BH loses more credibility. this will pass.

Anonymous (October 17, 2006 @ 7:05am):

I completely agree. These are all points that I wish UW students were more conscious about when they will be making their vote. The Wisconsin Union has placed the burden exclusively on student's backs, with no support from any other areas -- including changes in their non-allocated fee budget, which has grown exponentially as of late.

Anonymous (October 17, 2006 @ 10:28am):

Thank you! Finally, someone is vocal about the bad side of the initiative. The Union has spent a lot of money on t-shirts, signs, and promotional videos because they know that millions of dollars are on the line. Students need to be vocal as to how much this is going to cost.

Freshmen this year, by the time they graduate, will pay $384 towards these improvements which will not be complete until the end of their stay at UW! The Union is trying to force all students to donate to their cause. Students should be able to choose whether they want to donate to future projects. Vote NO.

Anonymous (October 17, 2006 @ 11:41am):

Freshman will probably actually pay more than that, since it's $96 a SEMESTER, not a year.

Also, someone should point out that this sets a terrible precedent for the future - namely, that student fees may be used for capital improvements. What's next, asking the students to buy a new fleet of Saferide buses? This is simply not an appropriate use of student segregated fees. Saying yes now will only encourage the university and the legislature to keep coming back to the student trough whenever they don't want to pay for things in the future.

Bringing a building up to code?? That's the law, not an option, and it's for the building owner to take care of. Period.

Anonymous (October 17, 2006 @ 12:40pm):

"The Wisconsin Union has placed the burden exclusively on student's backs, with no support from any other areas -- including changes in their non-allocated fee budget, which has grown exponentially as of late."

Actually, the Wisconsin Union will be contributing about $22 million dollars of its program revenue.

$8 million dollars will come from Transportation Services

$40 million from private donors

so....it's worth it to me to contribute $384 over a course of 4 years.

In addition, schools across the Big Ten and the UW System are 100% funded by the students. The Wisconsin Union is trying as hard as it can to be sensitive to rising costs of tuition and responding to student needs.

Anonymous (October 17, 2006 @ 1:45pm):

The Union website states that 58% of the funds are coming from students. The funds raised by this portion of the budget will go to "Phase 1" of the plan. This money is for building the new Union South building and upgrading the Memorial Union Theater Wing. Students the next two years will pay $48/semester and thereafter will pay up to $96/semester.

The problem with the budget is that alumni have the choice to donate. Students next year will be forced to "donate."

Freshmen "donation" = $384
Sophomore "donation" = $192
Junior "donation" = $96

The funding plan is just wrong. Students can support the Union the same way the alumni do, by pledging money. Phase 1 is not complete until 2010, so a forced payment is not appropriate. I'm voting No.

Anonymous (October 17, 2006 @ 2:43pm):

Forced donation? No one is calling this a donation.

I can think of a lot of other things that the University is wasting my money on.

How do you like $90,000 of forced payment to fund masturbating classes from Sex Out Loud? Or helping CFACT pay for Ted Nugent? Or paying ASM staff salaries? How about that new SAC building that we're paying about $20/semester for? That'll have a few RSO offices and mailboxes and lockers.

I think that $48/semester for the Wisconsin Union is worth it.

Anonymous (October 17, 2006 @ 2:44pm):

Those of you who don't want to foot the bill--then stop using the Union. Don't go to the delis(grainger, open book in college library, daily scoop, quick byte, feedbag, etc) or the film and music programs. Don't take a mini course or go to the Craftshop. Don't donate blood at YoungBlood.

Don't you dare enjoy one thing that this organization has provided us with.

Because if you use these things that past students forked over the money for, then you are just plain selfish and are part of society's problem of self-interested people.

I can't believe that some of us students are willing to say that someone else should pay for something that we are currently enjoying. What happened to thinking about longevity and the idea of preserving things for posterity?

Anonymous (October 17, 2006 @ 6:47pm):

Who really cares? $800 over 4 years really isn't a big deal when you're paying $50,000 for tuition and housing expenses (and that's just if you live in the state; $100,000+ if you live outside the state).

Anonymous (October 17, 2006 @ 6:58pm):

We pay for the construction of other buildings on campus through our tuition money-- why not actually spend money to improve the building we actually use?

Anonymous (October 17, 2006 @ 8:56pm):

the union should increase prices for the people that actually go there instead of forcing all students to give an average of $768.

students use the union maybe 2/3 of the year. what about all the union patrons, alumni and families that use it over the summer?

this initiative is a slap in the face to all students. we're fighting to freeze tuition and yet you want to trick us into voting for seg fee increases?

VOTE NO

Anonymous (October 17, 2006 @ 9:18pm):

anyone graduating in 2007- $0
anyone graduating in 2008- $96 total
anyone graduating in 2009- $192 total
anyone graduating in 2010- $394 total
***UNION SOUTH IS COMPLETE IN 2010***
4-yr. students graduating in 2011- $586 total
4-yr. students graduating in 2012-2037- $778 total

Anonymous (October 18, 2006 @ 9:08am):

Dear Editor,

We respectfully disagree with the Badger Herald's editorial conclusions concerning the Student Union Initiative and urge UW-Madison students to support the proposal and vote
"Yes" on October 18-19. Without a comprehensive long-range plan funded by students, the renovations Memorial Union desperately needs will take longer and cost more. In addition, the likelihood that the historical ambiance will not be able to be maintained is significant. It will further disadvantage students in the future to foot an even larger bill to fix what we didn't. An unsuccessful initiative will result in more band-aids to our broken leg of a building.

We'd also like clarify a few points in the editorial: a parking garage at a new union south will not be paid for by student fees; restoring the decorative dome in Great Hall is a suggestion, not a foregone conclusion; and students would pay no more than 58% of the costs. The Wisconsin Union will be contributing about $22 million dollars of its program revenue, $8 million dollars will come from Transportation Services and $40 million from private donors. If more donations are received than estimated, the amount students contribute will decrease.

Don't forget, both building are student unions; as students, we should want them to remain as such. There is no denying that the increase is not insignificant. But you get what you pay for: There are no guarantees that if the Initiative fails that a new building eventually supplanting Union South will still be a student union under student control. Ask the UW Administration--Casey Nagy, Executive Assistant to the Chancellor or Alan Fish, the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Facilities. With the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery breaking ground across Johnson St. soon, there will be a demand for space and services that Union South cannot handle in its current form.

Pass the Student Union Initiative and students will preserve Memorial Union and ensure that a new south campus building remains a student union. Otherwise, you might end up with another Fluno Center and to use the Daily Show's eloquence, 'then where ya gonna hang out?'

Students for a MORE PERFECT UNION,

Dylan Heaney, Shayna Hetzel, Stephanie Krubsack, Kristina Mueller, Angela Peters, Tristan Sather, John Sinclair, Travis Slattery, and Rachelle Stone.

respectively: senior in communication arts and political science, senior in political science and master's candidate at La Follette, junior in history and pre-law, senior in social work and legal studies, senior in Legal Studies and French, senior in political science and legal studies, junior in journalism and mass communications, and senior in history and senior in Elementary Education and Afro-American Studies.

Anonymous (October 23, 2006 @ 4:27pm):

Tuition goes up every year anyway. If the UW disguised this $192 a year as a tuition hike, no one would know the difference and no one would whine about it. If this $192 causes you to buy a few less cases of beer and bottles of liquor, so be it.