Spring Break
Rec Sports proposal to be voted on this week
If approved, students would pay $17 per term beginning in fall 2010 to transform McAlexander Fieldhouse, intramural fields
Ryan Gunderson
Issue date: 5/19/09 Section: News
By Ryan Gunderson
The Daily Barometer
Students at OSU will have a chance to have their voices heard yet again this Wednesday and Thursday.
On May 20 and 21, the Student Incidental Fees Committee will provide OSU students the opportunity to vote on the new Rec Sports proposal via Blackboard. If the students vote in favor of moving forward with the project, student fees will increase by $17 per student per term, starting fall 2010, for a grand total of $10.7 million.
The plan proposes to completely renovate McAlexander Fieldhouse in order to improve playing conditions there and give students an alternative to Dixon Recreation Center. In addition, the current intramural fields, across from the main entrance to Dixon, will be transformed into the new Outdoor Recreation Complex.
"The intramural sports field has been the center for physical activity at OSU for most of the last century," said Brian Collins, a member of the Student Facilities Improvement Team and a graduate student in the Masters of Public Policy program. Collins, along with fellow students Miles Dodge and Ben Misley, make up the Student Facilities Improvement Team, which is intended to improve student fee-funded facilities on campus.
The proposal for renovating the recreational sports facilities is only one of the many suggestions that were discussed during the last year. Other suggestions were to renovate the MU and replace Snell Hall. However, based on the research done by Brailsford and Dunlavay, who were contracted to conduct opinion research of students and faculty, students were most willing to pay to upgrade the recreational sports facilities at this time. This was evidenced in the fact that 60 percent of the students who participated in the research approved the recreational upgrade, but only 30 percent approved the renovation of the MU and Snell Hall at this time. They also suggested that being successful on this current initiative would provide future improved support for the MU and Snell Hall projects.
"The facilities in McAlexander aren't great," said Matt Gonzalez, a senior in new media communications. "But the resources of over $10 million could go to something more beneficial for a larger number of students."
If the students vote against this upcoming proposal, it will likely die until at least a new cycle of students comes through OSU, according to Dodge.
"Whatever happens is okay with me," Collins said. "It's the students' money."
This feeling is shared throughout the team, but it isn't worried about the proposal failing. The team confident that the student body wants to improve its facilities and is hopeful that the student body sees the value in improving the on-campus experience for future students.
"I feel there's a lot of optimism out there," Dodge said.
By Friday, OSU should know whether or not the feeling is mutual.
Ryan Gunderson, staff writer
news@dailybarometer.com, 737-2231
The Daily Barometer
Students at OSU will have a chance to have their voices heard yet again this Wednesday and Thursday.
On May 20 and 21, the Student Incidental Fees Committee will provide OSU students the opportunity to vote on the new Rec Sports proposal via Blackboard. If the students vote in favor of moving forward with the project, student fees will increase by $17 per student per term, starting fall 2010, for a grand total of $10.7 million.
The plan proposes to completely renovate McAlexander Fieldhouse in order to improve playing conditions there and give students an alternative to Dixon Recreation Center. In addition, the current intramural fields, across from the main entrance to Dixon, will be transformed into the new Outdoor Recreation Complex.
"The intramural sports field has been the center for physical activity at OSU for most of the last century," said Brian Collins, a member of the Student Facilities Improvement Team and a graduate student in the Masters of Public Policy program. Collins, along with fellow students Miles Dodge and Ben Misley, make up the Student Facilities Improvement Team, which is intended to improve student fee-funded facilities on campus.
The proposal for renovating the recreational sports facilities is only one of the many suggestions that were discussed during the last year. Other suggestions were to renovate the MU and replace Snell Hall. However, based on the research done by Brailsford and Dunlavay, who were contracted to conduct opinion research of students and faculty, students were most willing to pay to upgrade the recreational sports facilities at this time. This was evidenced in the fact that 60 percent of the students who participated in the research approved the recreational upgrade, but only 30 percent approved the renovation of the MU and Snell Hall at this time. They also suggested that being successful on this current initiative would provide future improved support for the MU and Snell Hall projects.
"The facilities in McAlexander aren't great," said Matt Gonzalez, a senior in new media communications. "But the resources of over $10 million could go to something more beneficial for a larger number of students."
If the students vote against this upcoming proposal, it will likely die until at least a new cycle of students comes through OSU, according to Dodge.
"Whatever happens is okay with me," Collins said. "It's the students' money."
This feeling is shared throughout the team, but it isn't worried about the proposal failing. The team confident that the student body wants to improve its facilities and is hopeful that the student body sees the value in improving the on-campus experience for future students.
"I feel there's a lot of optimism out there," Dodge said.
By Friday, OSU should know whether or not the feeling is mutual.
Ryan Gunderson, staff writer
news@dailybarometer.com, 737-2231
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