Wanting to address the U’s reputation as a commuter campus, the senior class wants to give part of campus a face-lift.
The 2010 senior class gift, an annual tradition at the U, is called “Reimagining the Plaza” and will be a contest for students to redesign the open space outside of the east entrance of the Marriott Library into a social center.
“This space is extremely underutilized,” said Erica Andersen, Associated Students of the University of Utah senior class president. “It has a lot of potential to be a social space.”
The ASUU Senate approved a request of $20,000 to go toward funding the gift at its Thursday meeting, but no concrete plans are in place as to how that money will be spent. Critics question whether ASUU should be spending the senior class gift money on a socializing plaza students might not use when they’re concerned about what will be one of the highest tuition hikes in recent memory.
Instead of redesigning the plaza, Cameron King, ASUU senator from the University College, suggested using the $20,000 to create 20 scholarships of $1,000.
“That’s a great idea, but that’s benefiting 20 students one time,” Andersen said.
Instead, ASUU plans to announce a contest Jan. 11 for all students to submit their ideas about what should be built in the plaza. The winning design will be named on Earth Day, Andersen said. The contest winner, in addition to having his or her design used for the plaza, will win $5,000, donated by the College of Architecture and Design, Andersen said. The college will also help choose the winner of the contest.
The school would save a lot of money on renovating the plaza by having students design it instead of a firm, said Elizabeth Adoyo, ASUU senator from the College of Law.
The design guidelines will encourage students to include moveable chairs and a food stand somewhere into their plan, as well as to think of the design in terms of sustainability, Andersen said.
King questioned whether students would actually use the redesigned plaza.
“For me, if the tuition goes up (significantly)…I’m going to work more hours, so I don’t think my time is going to be spent at school,” King said.
Norman Butler, a junior in biomedical engineering, sat in at the ASUU Senate meeting as a proxy for Seth Welborn, ASUU senator from the College of Engineering. He also disagreed with Andersen on the U needing another social space.
“The Union has moveable chairs and a place to eat already, and it’s underutilized,” Butler said.
Philipp Jonas, an exchange student in mechanical engineering not involved in ASUU, said he doubted regular students would make much use of the gift.
Andersen defended the gift by saying people would spend more time at the plaza if it were more appealing. For example, students gather to the area when ASUU governmental candidates campaign outside the library, she said.
“When there is food out there and when there are people to talk to, people gravitate to (the plaza),” she said.
Andersen said she hopes to gain a total of about $40,000 for the project. Since students will be encouraged to use sustainable building in their designs, Andersen said she might try to collect some funding for the gift from the estimated $72,000 in student fees obtained this year for the Sustainability Campus Initiative.
“I think that’s a great option,” Andersen said about using the student fees to help fund the gift.
The ASUU Assembly will vote on the $20,000 request Tuesday.
