UNL Student Union Expansion: Students approve fee increase.

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edsas
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UNL Student Union Expansion: Students approve fee increase.

Post by edsas »

http://www.dailynebraskan.com/vnews/dis ... 687c49e8a0

Students give overwhelming approval to union expansion

MEREDITH GRUNKE
March 02, 2006

More students voted on the union expansion proposal than did for student government positions Wednesday.

And the results were enough to make the Culture Center director Jamar Banks giggle with joy.

Student support for the union expansion and multicultural center topped out at 81.9 percent of 2,498 voters.

And support for raising student fees by $24 annually to pay for such an expansion was also a clear majority with a ``yes'' from 74.1 percent of 2,483 voters.

The proposed 30,000 square-foot addition would be built east of the Nebraska Union and would be slated for opening in fall 2009 - that's when the student fee increase would kick in. The expansion would include a multicultural center, which would replace the existing Culture Center, located near 14th and R streets.

``I'm elated,'' Banks said. ``I'm just ecstatic about this. This is outstanding that the university (and) the students responded in the way I thought they should have responded.''

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs James Griesen, the administrative guiding force behind the project, was equally excited.

``You're kidding me,'' he said after being told the results of the poll. ``I'm just so pleased. This is something we need so strongly.''

Griesen said the positive support should help keep the expansion project on schedule. A multicultural center would be included in the expansion, and minority groups would have priority use of the space.

The increase in fees would pay for half of the $8.7 million project. University of Nebraska-Lincoln administrators and the student government leaders will now search for private and corporate donors to cover the other half of the costs.

``I really believe that a positive student vote here will give our fundraising a real boost,'' Griesen said.

The vice chancellor credited the success of the campaign to the efforts of Association of Students of the University of Nebraska President Omaid Zabih and other students on the planning committee.

Zabih said he had been aiming for a 60 percent approval by the student body.

``I'm really, really excited for how they turned out,'' Zabih said, adding that educating the student body about the issue and gaining the endorsement of about 50 student organizations helped the campaign.

Matt Schaefer, ASUN president-elect, said he suspected the strong student showing at polls Wednesday was partially fueled by the union expansion center initiatives.

``Now we've got to take that and make it happen,'' Schaefer said.
edsas
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Post by edsas »

A rendering.

Image

The expansion will replace a faculty parking lot. This will create a nice little urban corridor on the east edge of city campus.
adam186
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Post by adam186 »

I'm glad I voted for this. Should add a lot to the diversity of the campus. Our current Cultural Center has been outdated for years. To bad I won't be a student there for much longer.
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Post by jsheets »

Awesome change!

And that's my old dorm, Selleck Hall, in the lower left corner :-) It's the little things that count...
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Re: UNL Student Union Expansion: Students approve fee increa

Post by joeglow »

edsas wrote:
The proposed 30,000 square-foot addition would be built east of the Nebraska Union and would be slated for opening in fall 2009 - that's when the student fee increase would kick in.
-Translation: "heck YEAH we want this. So long as the cost does not come in until we are long gone from the campus."

Seriously, it is STUPID to ask students today to vote on if the next group of students should have to pay more in student fees.
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Post by OmahaRules »

It's pathetic how few students vote on these things. I personally voted against it because I think its ridiculous the cost of college. Plus I'm not too excited about the quality of education I have recieved from UNL. Pretty lame school if you ask me but I'm out of there in August. Then its off to get my masters from a prestigious university.


It's hard to bring culture at a campus thats like 97% white.
adam186
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Post by adam186 »

OmahaRules wrote:It's hard to bring culture at a campus thats like 97% white.
:( :( :(
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Linkin5
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Post by Linkin5 »

WOW, I really hope you (omaharules) aren't a campus tour guide, lol.
edsas
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Re: UNL Student Union Expansion: Students approve fee increa

Post by edsas »

joeglow wrote: Seriously, it is STUPID to ask students today to vote on if the next group of students should have to pay more in student fees.
Why? It's future students who will benefit from the new facility and, considering that future students are not yet actual attendees, they have the option of choosing another school if they don't want to pony up.

In the 90s, I voted for the Union expansion and renovation project. I ended up paying extra fees my junior and senior years. The project was completed by my senior year. And I'm glad I did it, because the new Union stomps all over the old one and makes the University more competitive in attracting students. All in all, it was worth the extra 50 bucks out of the over 20,000 I spent on college.
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Re: UNL Student Union Expansion: Students approve fee increa

Post by joeglow »

edsas wrote: All in all, it was worth the extra 50 bucks out of the over 20,000 I spent on college.
-Because college is already so affordable for over half the nation's population [/sarcasm]

Since you would have been down there at the time, I am sure you loved the obscene amount of money they spent on the monstrocity that is "Torn Notebook."
edsas
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Post by edsas »

Yep. I love Torn Notebook. Much better than the parking lot that was there to begin with.

And yeah, college is affordable to everyone. I came from a lower middle-class family in Grand Island. My three siblings were all honors students and had their college paid for by their schools. I, on the other hand, graduated with a 2.7 GPA, so I had to pay for it myself. I got some grants and loans and a part-time job and got my degree in 5 years. 8 years later, I'm still paying them off because I got a philosophy degree (and I chose to move to one of the most expensive cities in the country). It sucks to be in debt, but I wouldn't trade my degree for anything. But the length of your college debt depends on what you study. My wife got a journalism degree, landed a high-paying job and paid her student loans off in 3 years.

If someone doesn't like to pay a few extra dollars for campus improvements, then they should go to community college instead of a major university. Then they won't have to worry about it.
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Post by OmahaRules »

I've taken some classes at the community college just to save some money. I recommend all kids start out at their local community college and then transfer to a UNO or UNL for thier 4 year degree. Most people downplay community colleges but in all reality I think I learned more at Metro than I did in any 200+ student lecture hall BS class at UNL. To be honest it's not like UNL is known around the country for being a great university. It might rank up high but if you ask around no one thinks you are better for having gone there. It's on par with state schools but its no Ivy league school.
edsas
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Post by edsas »

OmahaRules wrote:I've taken some classes at the community college just to save some money. I recommend all kids start out at their local community college and then transfer to a UNO or UNL for thier 4 year degree.
Yeah, I agree. Unfortunately I didn't discover this until my senior year when I took a math class at SECC. It cost my 1/4 what it would have at UNL.
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Post by joeglow »

edsas wrote:Yep. I love Torn Notebook. Much better than the parking lot that was there to begin with.
-I can think of a LOT of things that money could have been better spent on.


edsas wrote:If someone doesn't like to pay a few extra dollars for campus improvements, then they should go to community college instead of a major university. Then they won't have to worry about it.
-I don't mind some necessary improvements. However, I get sick and tired of people wanting everything just because it would be cool. Our governments are the best example of spending gone crazy. The people who want this are the same ones who will be whining when our economy goes down and the state has to cut MORE programs because there is no way to cut the debt payments they have already locked themselves into. Sadly, there are many who would rather have a million dollar "sculpture" or some other million dollar building than a continuing studies program or the staff that has to be downsized.

But, what am I thinking? Our country will be better off if our students can look at a sculpture and not have to worry about there being programs to enroll in or professors to teach.
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Post by edsas »

I've never heard of a college going under because of a sculpture. But you're right, Joe, the best environment for learning is a strictly sterile and utilitarian one. :P

Again, nobody is forcing anyone to attend and pay for colleges that spend pennies of their budgets on aesthetic improvements. heck, you can get a degree online nowadays, so even if the college you want to attend has a bunch of dreaded sculptures, at least you won't have to look at them.
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Post by joeglow »

edsas wrote:I've never heard of a college going under because of a sculpture. But you're right, Joe, the best environment for learning is a strictly sterile and utilitarian one. :P .
-Yeah. The best colleges are those that spend money on ANY project that simply makes the OUTSIDE look prettier. See, I can work with extremes too.
edsas wrote:Again, nobody is forcing anyone to attend and pay for colleges that spend pennies of their budgets on aesthetic improvements. heck, you can get a degree online nowadays, so even if the college you want to attend has a bunch of dreaded sculptures, at least you won't have to look at them.
-Agreed. But, people ARE forcing me to pay state taxes, a decent clip of which goes to universities. I would love to see them exercise SOME common sense when it comes to what to spend money on.
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Post by adam186 »

joeglow wrote:
edsas wrote:Yep. I love Torn Notebook. Much better than the parking lot that was there to begin with.
-I can think of a LOT of things that money could have been better spent on.

-I don't mind some necessary improvements. However, I get sick and tired of people wanting everything just because it would be cool. Our governments are the best example of spending gone crazy. The people who want this are the same ones who will be whining when our economy goes down and the state has to cut MORE programs because there is no way to cut the debt payments they have already locked themselves into. Sadly, there are many who would rather have a million dollar "sculpture" or some other million dollar building than a continuing studies program or the staff that has to be downsized.

But, what am I thinking? Our country will be better off if our students can look at a sculpture and not have to worry about there being programs to enroll in or professors to teach.
I'm sorry, but I don't see how you can compare a new "Cultural Center" with a sculpture. It's not even worthy of discussion. UNL needs this improvement, bottom line.
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Post by TitosBuritoBarn »

For the record, I'm a college student at Iowa State and all the projects at UNL to make it look prettier seriously make me want to transfer there. I seriously doubt there is any sort of educational advantage to being at Iowa State instead of UNL. However there seems to be many non-educational advantages to being at UNL than Iowa State. It's the little things, like this "cultural center" for example. When you go on a college visit, what do you do? Do you sit in a boring room for an entire day and listen to someone discuss every little fact about how the college's academics stack up, meet the school's entire staff, and have a lecture on what it will cost? Of course not. While that's part of it, they take you around the campus and show you all the pretty scenery and cool amentities. When you go to college, you are buying more than just an education, you are buying an experience. That's why people are willing to pay more to go to a school like UNL than, say, Iowa Western. I would never spend my college years at Iowa Western or any sort of school where there is no "experience." That was for high school.
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Post by joeglow »

adam186 wrote: UNL needs this improvement, bottom line.
-Why? Simply stating it does not make it so. If that was all it took, then UNL does not need this improvement, bottom line.
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Post by adam186 »

joeglow wrote:
adam186 wrote: UNL needs this improvement, bottom line.
-Why? Simply stating it does not make it so. If that was all it took, then UNL does not need this improvement, bottom line.
Listen, I'm in Ethn 309 and we discussed why we needed this for about an hour. I don't feel like I need to spell it out to you and point out the obvious. So I won't. And I don't really appreaciate you throwing my bottom line quote in my face.
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Post by joeglow »

adam186 wrote: Listen, I'm in Ethn 309 and we discussed why we needed this for about an hour. I don't feel like I need to spell it out to you and point out the obvious.
And I printed out my pay stub and saw my withholdings for Nebraska.

adam186 wrote:So I won't. And I don't really appreaciate you throwing my bottom line quote in my face.
Sorry if I insulted you. That was not my attempt. However, my point is still, if you want to convince someone (in any forum), you need more than just stating your point and saying it is correct.

What I want to know is, how will this improve diversity? If you ask me, it is some half assed attempt to try and get minorities to go to UNL. Well, guess what: the REAL problem is not getting more minorities to go to UNL. The REAL problem is getting a larger percentage of the minority population to be equipped and go to college. You would think a Ethnics class would be more concerned with the big picture. Sadly, it appears all they are interested in is a feel good project that will really do nothing to improve the state of affairs.
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Post by adam186 »

...Peace... I had a bad week so I'm just very touchy right now, sorry about that. But, I still don't feel like posting all that stuff.
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Post by OmahaRules »

After the 2002 year didn't UNL cut many degree programs because of budget shortfalls? Wouldn't you think you'd get more students to come to college by having a better selection of degree choices rather than a cultural center? I doubt any one student will really choose UNL over another college simply based on a building.......Let's spend our state tax dollars and student fees on attracting more students to the university to share the burden with us than maybe we won't see 6-10% increases in tuition every year. Let's face it these fees are just going to be on top of the tuition increases... which will no doubt force many of the minority students out of college that would benefit from the culture center. But hey when 97% of your student population is white how much more culture do you need?

You'd get more culture interacting with students from different places than by simply having a building. Let's use the money to fund some scholarships for minority students rather than another waste of space building.
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Post by joeglow »

OmahaRules wrote:You'd get more culture interacting with students from different places than by simply having a building. Let's use the money to fund some scholarships for minority students rather than another waste of space building.
-Amen. However, a building does a lot for making people feel better, while accomplishing NONE of their supposed goals.
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