A coalition of student groups gathered Monday to promote their agendas for the new University Health Services and Student Activity Center.

The Multicultural Student Center, Asian and Pacific American Council, the Associated Students of Madison, the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group, the Wisconsin Union and the India Students Association were among groups represented at the conference. The organizations highlighted necessities of the building and promoted a centralized location for it.

“The UHS/SAC building will merge one of the most progressive, grassroots-based health service facilities in the nation with consolidated student organization space, thereby fostering a more holistic sense of student life and student power,” Rodney Stokes, MCSC member, said.

Trent Krupp, chair of ASM’s subcommittee working on the UHS/SAC building, said their favored site is on the corner of University and Lake Street.

“It would be close to the Union, State Street, and the southeast dorms, creating greater foot traffic, visibility and student group collaboration, which are all important in taking this project to its fullest potential,” Krupp said.

Krupp and others detailed their expectations for the new building, citing lack of space for registered student organizations as their main concern.

Gautham Rao, former president of India Students Association and member of APAC, told of his problem with the space crunch.

“Unless you have run an organization, you could never understand how hard it is when two organizations with completely separate interests vie for the same space,” he said.

“ISA is not complaining, and this story is not unique,” Rao said. “Many organizations in the MSC, and across campus, are forced to shared the limited space that does exist.”

Rao said UW lags far behind other Big Ten schools in providing space for RSOs, with space for 36 out of 600 organizations.

Megan Fitzgerald, WisPIRG board chair, told students that the current UHS buildings are falling apart. A leaking roof, poor ventilation, a failing cooling system, unreliable elevators and an asbestos problem are among the problems.

“Due to the nature of these facility problems and how vital UHS is to the health of the students, we must act now to build a new and better facility,” Fitzgerald said.
The UW System Board of Regents approved funding for the building in 1999, and UW’s chancellor, John Wiley, recently said it is his top construction priority. It was ranked in the top three building projects by the Campus Planning Commission in 2000 and was approved by the state Legislature during the last biennium.
“The project, however, is more than just a building,” Stokes said. “Since the 1990s it has been fostering a new student community, and when it is completed, students, student organizations and student government will equally, jointly and uniquely govern the building.”
In accordance with a 1995 referendum, students will pay for $17 million of the project, which is estimated to cost $34 million total. The university is asking for the state to subsidize the other half of the costs.