The Arizona Board of Regents approved Friday to implement a mandatory meal plan at Arizona State University for on-campus freshmen beginning fall 2006, making the UA the only university in the Pacific 10 Conference not requiring freshmen to pay some kind of dining fee.

The UA is also the last Arizona university to not have such a plan, as Northern Arizona University imposed a mandatory dining plan for freshmen in August.

Student leaders at ASU voiced support for the meal plan proposal at the regents meeting, citing they needed the revenue to fund a new learning center called McAllister Academic Village.

McAllister Academic Village, a center specifically designed for ASU freshmen, would include a residence hall, classrooms, tutoring sites, faculty offices and dining facilities.

However, some of the funding to build McAllister Avenue would have to come from a meal plan fee for freshmen, which ASU student leaders said was worth imposing to support the learning center.

UA President Peter Likins said the UA has no immediate need for a learning center like McAllister Avenue, and if a mandatory meal plan were implemented sometime in the future, it would be to increase the freshman community.

However, Dan Adams, director of the Student Union Memorial Center, said the unions could build more food courts and restaurants while not worrying about how to pay for it because they would be guaranteed base revenue each year from freshmen living on campus.

Adams said he has been working with UA student groups to gain input on whether it would work well for the UA community, something that did not happen as much at ASU.

"We've had very little time for discussion with students," said Julie Johnson, vice president of ASU's undergraduate student government.

Since Adams began speaking to campus groups about the proposal, student leaders have been hesitant to support it, seeing the UA as being different from its sister universities.

The Residence Hall Association recently voted against the proposal Adams presented to them last month, citing concern that residents would foot the bill of facilities that all UA students use.

"We are against any plan where residents are the sole contributor," said Ted Theodorou, RHA president.

Theodorou, a political science and classics junior, said RHA is willing to work with Adams to create a proposal that would benefit all students.

Emily Ladd, a political science senior and RHA member, said RHA is trying to look out for the best interests of future students the proposal would affect.

"As long as we can meet (Adams) halfway," Ladd said.

Paty Gonzalez, an education junior and member of RHA, said a mandatory meal plan could keep future students from wanting to live in residence halls.

"We're working hard to ensure our goals and our criteria are met," Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said the regents' decision about ASU would probably not affect the UA.

"It looks unfavorable, but ASU has a very, very different system," she said.

Alistair Chapman, Associated Students of the University of Arizona president, said if a mandatory meal plan for the UA ever made it to the regents' agenda, they would take into consideration the amount of student support.

Chapman said ASUA never announced whether or not they supported the proposal because Adams has been flexible with changing the plan to include student input.

Chapman said just because NAU has a mandatory meal plan and ASU will begin one in 2006, does not mean the UA is soon to follow.

"Their campus dynamics are different than ours," he said.

-Natasha Bhuyan contributed to this report