During the ASUAF election May 3 and 4, students will be asked if they would pay a fee of up to $160 for 25 years to pay for about half of a planned $50 million Wood Center expansion and renovation project.
"I'm glad we got the required signatures for the initiative to become a referendum on the ballot because I think it'll put to rest the question whether or not students would be willing to pay a fee for this project," said Lydia Anderson, the Wood Center's building manager.
Supporters of the project say the renovation is long overdue and that essential student services would be included in one location. Though they support improving the Wood Center, opponents say students shouldn't have to shoulder so much of the financial burden, especially because they know little about the project, and they say that current students making the decision will not be footing the bill.
"I don't feel it's fair to ask students to pay $50 million without that they know what it is they pay for," said student Peter Prokein. "It's like you're going to a car dealership and the guy says, 'Oh here, you now, let me sell you a car,' and you say, 'Well, OK, what kind?' [and he says] 'Oh, let's not worry about that, let's just do the contract first, figure out what you're going to pay, and then figure out what kind of car you get.'"
Wood Center Building Manager Lydia Anderson, who sits on the Campus Life Master Planning Committee, said they have helped inform students in person and by purchasing numerous promotional materials, including cups, T-shirts, pens, highlighters, and flying discs, that point students toward their website, www.uaf.edu/oc3/
"We felt it was really important to educate students about this project," Anderson said.
"We've not in any of our materials encouraged students to vote for this project," she said. "We have been very careful about saying, 'Just get out and vote.'"
Prokein, who is not against expanding the Wood Center or using student fees to do it, thinks that any vote might be an uninformed one.
"You go to the website ... and there's minimal information there," Prokein said. "We don't know how much space our student organizations are going to have, we don't know how much space KSUA's going to have, KSUA-TV's going to have. What does 50 percent student contribution mean in terms of ownership and administration?"
Student Michael Wilson fears that students will foot the bill for a center that's used by everyone.
"It's dumped on future students, and it's saying the rest of the community doesn't have to pay for a lot of this, when they get a lot of the benefits just the same," Wilson said. "It should be a cost that's spread out through the system like a lot of the normal buildings on campus."
Anderson disagreed.
"When the community comes in this building, probably 90 percent of them come in and use one of our services," she said, "whether it's to buy a candy bar, or to go to the Pub, or to go upstairs and get something to eat, or they're here for a conference and while they're here they pick up any of those services, and that benefits our students because they're buying products and the revenue from that allows us to turn around and dump it back into programs or services we do."
Student opinion has been mixed.
"I think that they should expand it, but I'm not going to vote yes on it because I disagree with how they're going to get the money," said Kristin Haney. "I think they should get more government support."
"Yes, I would [support it]," said Weston Howe, "Because I'm graduating. No, I think that the better you make the campus, yeah it's going to cost money, but in the long run it'll make UAF a better place. You can't live in the '60s forever."
