Capital Improvements Fund will provide new furniture ?for the student lounge
By Maureen Inouye
St. Mary's Student Center will be refurnished and recarpeted over winter break with money from the Capital Improvement Fund and additional funding from the University.
Although this was students' third choice in an online vote, ASUP decided that renovating St. Mary's is the best use of Capital Improvement money at this time.
The Capital Improvements Fund comes from a portion of each student's student government fee and totaled approximately $19,600 this semester. It is intended to "be used for projects and purchases that provide physical improvements to campus or the immediate surrounding area," according to the ASUP Constitution.
ASUP receives these funds every semester and the Senate and the Executive Board work together to create a list of possible projects. In the past, the Executive Board has made the final decision from the top five (which are chosen from the top ten by the Senate). This year, students voted online for their favorite improvements.
The six choices included a biodiesel storage tank, coffee service in St. Mary's, a revamp of the St. Mary's study space, renovations to the brick seating area outside the Pilot House, a new gazebo on the bluff, and more outdoor seating around campus.
Students voted to renovate the bricks and tables outside the Pilot House, but ASUP decided to postpone that project until spring. Laying brick and replacing the wooden tables in the winter rain is not practical, according to Jeromy Koffler, the director of Student Activities.
Instead, ASUP will be using this semester's fund to replace the furniture in St. Mary's. The University is also paying to replace the carpeting.
The students' second choice in the vote was the biodiesel storage tank. The storage tank, however, is not expensive enough to warrant the use of the Capital Improvements Fund, so ASUP plans to request carryover funds (money set aside for unanticipated events and needs) from the Senate to pay for the tank.
"There is no rule that ASUP has to honor the student vote," Koffler said. ASUP's Executive Board used the online Capital Improvement Fund voting to test the voting system rather than to determine which project to fund.
"We got great general feedback from the students, but the (Executive) Board makes the final decision," Koffler said.
Eventually, ASUP might use the online voting program for elections. Approximately the same number of students voted online as the number of students who have voted with the paper ballots in the past.
