In their last meeting of the semester, the Associated Students of the University of Arizona Senate passed a referendum that will put a new Student Recreation Center fee on the ballot in next year's student elections.
The ASUA senators debated for almost two hours Wednesday night before passing the referendum 6 to 4, which will let students decide whether to approve a student fee of $84 per year instead of the current $50 fee to fund an addition to the Rec Center.
The fee, which would not go into effect until the completion of the facility in 2009, would expand the Rec Center from 80,000-square-feet to 116,000-square-feet, said Juliette Moore, the director of the Rec Center.
Since the Rec Center-as-is will not be paid off until 2011, there will be a two-year overlap from 2009 to 2011 when students will have to pay both the yearly $50 and $84 fees, totaling $134 per student a year. The cost of the project will be $35 million and the fee would be in place until the bonds are paid off, Moore said.
Sen. Nathan Bell voiced the strongest opposition to both the referendum and the fee and said he was surprised and disappointed at how narrow the vote margin was.
"I thought I was going to be the only one dissenting," said Bell, a computer science senior. "I managed to bring three other senators with me, but it wasn't enough."
Moore said it is important to remember that even if the majority of students voted to approve the fee, the ultimate fate of the new Rec Center would be decided by the Arizona Board of Regents and the UA president.
Bell said the fee would take $35 million out of students' pockets and ASUA should have waited in order to look at more alternatives.
"There are much more dire needs on campus than students waiting in line for too long," Bell said. "Throwing $35 million at this problem is overkill."
Others at the meeting had a very different outlook on the results of the meeting.
Sen. Erin Hertzog, executive vice president-elect, said she was "extremely happy" the referendum passed because it will give students a chance to have a voice on the issue.
"I know all of us have a lot of personal opinions, but I want to hear what the students have to say," said Hertzog, a journalism junior.
However, Hertzog said she was glad the meeting went long enough for everyone to bring up all of their concerns, which she said could be expected when dealing with such a touchy subject.
"We could have rubber-stamped (the referendum) easily, but we didn't because that's not our job," Hertzog said.
Bell said now that the referendum has passed, the responsibility of the next senate class will be to make sure the election is representative of the student body.
Sara Birnbaum, the executive vice president, said she didn't have any expectations for what the vote would be but was glad to see that a "really healthy dialogue" occurred.
"The meeting was one of the most heated discussions we've had," said Birnbaum, a political science junior. "The senators did a great job representing a wide range of students, from students who never work out, to those who work out five days a week."
Birnbaum said the narrow vote margin was not surprising because preliminary surveys by the Rec Center have shown that students are nearly evenly split on the issue, with 64 percent saying they would be willing to pay for the expansion.