Vote Yes
By Valerie Uihlein
Currently, the Student Government Association (SGA) is aggressively pursuing an informational campaign for a referendum that will appear on the ballot in March. The referendum is for a new campus recreation and wellness center. This issue has been in the minds of this SGA Administration for some time because the students at Illinois State University have said that the current recreation center does not meet their needs.
To make sure of student support for the pursuance of a referendum for a new recreation center, the SGA went out and asked the students what they thought. In the fall semester of 2001, the SGA facilitated a random telephone survey to solicit student feedback. All the students that were contacted by phone were selected randomly and asked the same questions.
The results of the survey spoke loud and clear as to what the next step for the SGA needed to be: 80% of respondents polled said they would support a referendum to raise student fees by $125 per semester and 45% of respondents were willing to pay more than the proposed $125 increase. After those results the SGA asked the Assembly to approve moving forward with the referendum that would appear on the ballot in March. Since the Assembly approved this initiative, the SGA has been moving forward in full force in an attempt to educate the student body about this issue. If the students vote in favor of the referendum in March, they would be agreeing to go forward with the building of a new recreation facility.
Why a new recreation center? Currently, our Facilities operated by the Department of Recreation Services and University Golf Course are out of date, and too small to serve the needs of our student body. An on campus facility will include amenities that the department cannot currently offer, and would be much easier to access than current facilities. In addition, the School of Kinesiology and Recreation currently operates in several facilities on campus (McCormick Hall, Horton Fieldhouse, Turner Hall). A new facility would place all of these services, class space, and activity space in one location.
The current proposed facility would be approximately 175,000 sq. ft. The facility would be state-of-the-art and would include a large weight room, a lap pool, a recreational pool, a jogging track, gymnasium space for basketball and volleyball, multi-purpose rooms, the Outdoor Adventure Center, a juice bar, and a lounge. The facility will also include classroom and activity space for the School of Kinesiology and Recreation, as well as administrative offices for the Dept. of Recreation Services and University Golf Course and the School of Kinesiology and Recreation. The facility would be shared by the department of Kinesiology and Recreation because both the School of Kinesiology and the Department of Recreation Services and University Golf Course would benefit greatly from a shared facility. Each department would have spaces dedicated to their specific programs, as well as sharing a large majority of the facility.
If the referendum is approved, student fees would be raised $125 per semester. This fee would only be implemented if and when the University can acquire funding from the state. It is up to the students at Illinois State University to make their voices heard concerning a new recreation center.
Students need to vote on March 5th and 6th and let the University Administration know they feel about having a new on campus recreation and wellness center. All the legislation in regards to this referendum, including the language that will appear on the ballot is available on the SGA website at http://www.sga.ilstu.edu. There is also a web site dedicated specifically to the upcoming recreation center referendum; this site can be accessed at http://www.sga.ilstu.edu/referendum.
The Student Referendum Committee will be working diligently from now until Election Day to make sure the students are going to be making an informed decision when they go the voting booths on March 5th and 6th. Any questions about the new recreation center can be directed to any member of the Student Referendum Committee. The contact information for each member is available on the referendum web site. Please check out the web site and let us know of any questions that you may have regarding this issue. We want to make sure that the students are making an informed decision come March 5th and 6th.
The Student Referendum Committee and the Student Government Association leave it in the students' hands to make their voices heard loud and clear. Please make sure you go out and vote on March 5th and 6th at http://www.ilstu.edu. For more information, please visit http://www.sga.ilstu.edu/referendum.
