An unholy Union

by Badger Herald Editorial Board

Wednesday, April 18, 2007 00:00

Today, the Wisconsin Legislative Joint Finance Committee will pore over hundreds of millions of dollars in University of Wisconsin building plans in an informational briefing. They will begin the process of determining which of the proposed campus building projects receive the state's approval.

We urge the budget committee to use a level-headed approach — which was starkly absent during the Student Union Initiative's planning phases — when considering the budget proposal for a new Union South.

From botched student elections to the hefty price tag that will leave students for at least the next 25 years paying up to an additional $200 in student segregated fees per year, we hope the committee is just as taken aback by the history and details of the Student Union Initiative as we are.

A portion of SUI includes plans to demolish Union South and erect a brand-new, larger building with new features, like a pub and a coffeehouse, which will cost a grand total of $67 million. According to the initiative's framework, most of the funding for this project will come directly from students' pockets for the next three decades.

Furthermore, despite the initiative's recent passage in the fall Associated Students of Madison elections — after a meager 6.59 percent student-voter turnout following a poorly executed paper-ballot process — SUI was shot down repeatedly by the student body in previous elections. Most notably, with a 22.4 percent voter turnout, students voted against the initiative in the spring last year — this should be taken as clear evidence of the true will of the student body.

The existing Union South — despite its institutional 1970s design and a few minor issues — is still perfectly capable of serving the student body for the time being. Union South offers several dining options, a computer lab, a respectable study area with a copper-hearth lodge and several multi-purpose rooms. It is not a bombed-out, crumbling behemoth mere bricks away from collapsing to the ground.

The bottom line still remains: An extra $200 per year on top of already steep student fees is far too heavy a burden to put on decades of students.

The budget committee has the opportunity to practice responsibility with students' hard-earned money, and we hope they honor their commitment to act in the best interests of their constituents.

It can be said for sure, that if the Student Union Initiative is approved and implemented, that the excess of our youth will be checks written against thousands of future students.