By Emily Sitton
Kilts, couches, tables, chairs and drums. What do these items have in common?
They will all be purchased with money from the fall semester $19,500 capital improvements fund.
The ASUP Executive Board decided last week to give $3,000 to the Villa Drum Squad and $16,500 to fund furniture for the Haggerty lounge revamp.
The money for the Drum Squad will purchase new kilts and drums, as well as equipment repairs.
Last month, the ASUP Senate narrowed the list of proposed capital improvements to five: the Villa Drum Squad, Haggerty lounge revamp, upgrades in library study areas, residence halls and funding an artificial Christmas tree.
The Senate ranked the Haggerty lounge and the Villa Drum Squad first and second, and the ASUP Executive Board's vote sealed the deal.
The Executive Board decided against library improvements partly because they felt the money would not go far and partly because the University has long-term plans to replace the current library, said senior Alyssa Schmidt-Carr, ASUP vice president.
"We also had to think about what was most feasible," Schmidt-Carr said.
The Executive Board eliminated funding items for the residence halls because Residence Life recently received more money. It rejected the Christmas tree proposal because the administration was not behind the idea, according to Schmidt-Carr.
The Executive Board chose to fund the Villa Drum Squad because it does not receive funding from anyone and it embodies school spirit, according to Schmidt-Carr.
"No one brings the community better together than Villa," Schmidt-Carr said.
The drums and kilts currently in use were donated to the Villa Drum Squad.
They have not been replaced for at least three or four years, said senior Andrew Stocks, a Drum Squad co-leader.
"If something broke, maybe someone could scrounge up something else," Stocks said. "We're very grateful to the student body."
The Executive Board also chose to fund the furniture for the Haggerty lounge revamp, with the target completion date of Jan. 9.
The furniture includes couches, chairs, bar-height tables and sit-down tables.
Residence Life, Bon Appétit and the administration are already working on transforming the Haggerty lounge into a space with a coffee house feel.
The Executive Board chose to fund part of the Haggerty lounge update because they thought it was something students "will really be excited about," according to Schmidt-Carr.
The Haggerty lounge revamp includes the addition of a café, which will likely have coffee, breakfast foods, grab-and-go items, fruit smoothies and some type of ice cream.
The cafe would be open to students living in Fields and Schoenfeldt Halls in addition to those living in The Village.
Tentative hours for the café are Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
It would likely be open Saturday and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 12 a.m.
"I think it would definitely be more convenient because The Village is kind of far away from everything else," junior Frances Klein said.
The lounge will also likely have a stage area, lighting and a sound system where performers can come entertain students.
While there will be additions, many parts of the lounge will remain the same.
The television, front desk and mail room areas will not change. The computers and printers will also stay in the lounge, but may be moved to the other side.
While some students are optimistic about the changes, others are worried.
"Because the lounge is so small I don't see where they will put it without interfering with something else and taking away study space," senior Ashley Rochholz said.
The Rev. John Donato, C.S.C., associate vice president for Student Life and a member of the committee working on the lounge revamp, is concerned about the effects these changes will have on students too.
"I want to make it possible for students to have the space they need," he said.
He and other committee members are working to find solutions to the difficulties that changes in the Haggerty lounge may cause.
