Click here to view an interactive guide to the Rec Center referendum.
There are few school-related things over which students have control. No one votes whether midterms are a good idea or if 10 minutes is sufficient time to dash from class to class, and rarely do students have a say in new construction and fee increases. The proposed Recreation Center expansion, however, is offering students a chance to voice their opinion in an online vote Wednesday and Thursday.
Associated Students Inc. came up with a proposal to expand the current Rec Center in an attempt to meet the perceived growing needs of the campus community. Now they are looking for students to decide whether the expansion is something they want implemented.
“We’ve run a neutral and informative campaign on what the new Rec Center would entail,” ASI president Brandon Souza said. “We’re not advocating a vote either way; it’s just an informative campaign for students to make an educated decision.”
So what would the new facilities include?
To start with, the $72 million plan would double the Rec Center’s current size. The addition would include another 14,000 square feet for the weight and exercise rooms, two new courts for basketball and volleyball, a multi-activity center for sporting and entertainment activities, and a leisure pool in addition to the existing lap pool.
“If you look at some of the other CSUs, many of their Rec Centers are much newer and more amenity-filled than ours,” ASI public releations coordinator Michelle Broom said. “Cal Poly was one of the very first to build one, but now everyone else has a Rec Center and ours is old.”
The project will require a 51 percent approval in order to pass and, if approved, is projected to be completed in September 2011. Though the facilities would remain open throughout construction, very few students currently attending Cal Poly will have a chance to utilize the new additions once completed.
“It’s the idea that students today are preparing for the students of tomorrow,” Souza said. “The Student Union and the Sports Complex were both voted on by students in the past. My dad was class of ’71 at Poly and he voted on the Student Union in ’67 but never got to use it. Unfortunately, Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither are buildings on campus.”
It will also be the students of tomorrow paying an increased fee of $65 per quarter when the facilities open; current students pay nothing until then. And while these increases do provide benefits, they are also adding to the constantly rising cost of higher education.
CSU fees have nearly doubled in the last five years, and the CSU system recently announced a 10 percent increase for next year in general fees charged to all students.
According to Broom, this is one of the major complaints ASI has been receiving about the proposal.
“There are students who are putting themselves through school and have jobs,” she said. “They have to really budget their finances, and raising student fees, no matter what it’s for, is a hardship for them.”
Graphic communications senior Cassie Barth understands both sides of the issue.
“In general, I think the expansion is good bebut I think the additional $65 is a little expensive, especially if you don’t use the Rec Center or its facilities,” she said.
Other students feel the expansion is a good idea because it will shorten wait times and bring in new resources. Graphic communications freshman Jake Goble plans to vote yes on the issue.
“There will be a lot less waiting and they will have a lot more cardio machines,” he said. “I usually lift weights and I’m just recently getting into cardio, so I’m happy about that.”
Civil engineering junior Andrew Santos also supports the proposal.
“A lot of times when I come to the Rec Center, it’s really hard to get onto the basketball courts and play. I think it’s a good idea to expand the number of courts so there’s less waiting,” he said.
Still, others feel the proposed facilities will do very little to ease congestion and meet students’ needs. Biology senior Blythe Nye has given up on the Rec Center altogether and now uses a gym off campus.
“It’ll be cool for the people who use it, but it makes me kind of wonder about what other things they could be doing with that money,” she said. “I don’t think that making the place bigger will help that much; it will just be a larger space that gets even more crowded than before.”
With so many differing opinions, this week’s vote will be the determining factor as to whether the Rec Center expands. According to Souza, ASI is not pushing for the verdict to go either way but is rather hoping to bring the best amenities to campus that will meet students’ wants and needs. As an avid user of the Rec Center, however, he thinks the plan presents numerous benefits.
“We have a significant amount of students who have gone elsewhere and we’re hoping to bring them back on campus,” he said. “Rec Centers of the future are geared to a whole wellness aspect. It’s definitely not just barbells and treadmills anymore. It’s a lot more.”
If the idea doesn’t pass, ASI plans to continue offering the same resources and activities for students as it always has.
“We’re here to initiate what the students want,” Broom said. “If they say that they don’t want a Rec Center expansion, then we’ll continue doing what we do – bringing in concerts, running the Craft Center, and perhaps at a later date we’ll get a new Rec Center in for them.”
The online voting will be open to all Cal Poly students Wednesday and Thursday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and can be accessed through my.calpoly.edu.