Recreation
center back on agenda
By Todd Leland
On-line Forty-Niner
In
reversal of the decision made three weeks
ago, the Associated Students Inc. Senate
has voted to place the student recreation
center referendum for a vote on next week’s
agenda.
While moving to vote next week the senators
stressed that the referendum vote is not
an assurance that there will be a student
recreation center.
“This is strictly a vote that will decide
whether to send the proposal for a student
recreation center to the student body,”
said A.S.I. Vice President and Senate Chair
Shahrohk Sheik.
The senators brought forth many questions
as to whether they should continue to postpone
the matter or vote immediately in a heated
informal discussion.
Sen. Adam Anderson voiced concern about
the marketing and education factors of the
project and how the timing of those factors
will affect student knowledge of the proposal.
“The recreation center education plans and
the language on the ballots, if there are
going to be ballots, concerns me,” Anderson
said.
Sheik reiterated the fact that the main
responsibility of the Senate was to insure
that correct information and the right amount
of it reaches the student body.
Prompting the reversal of opinion of the
Senate was the reluctance of the University
Student Union’s marketing department to
market the recreation center to students
without a referendum.
“We don’t have anything to inform about
if we don’t have a referendum,” Robert Lara,
assistant director of the Student Union
argued. “We are hesitant to move forward
without a referendum.”
In response, Senate Adviser Stuart Farber
commented that possibly too much attention
is being cast upon a referendum when promotion
of the recreation center should take priority.
Parking complications were also a concern
of the senators, including Sen. Ricardo
Carlos.
“We need to make sure that the students
are aware of the fact that the recreation
center may cause even more parking problems,”
Carlos said.
Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs Mike
Hostetler assured Carlos and the rest of
the Senate that the parking situation would
be addressed.
“There must be a [new] parking structure,”
Hostetler said. “There will be no recreation
center without a new parking structure.”
Toward the close of the informal discussion,
Sen. Joshua Nettinga brought the proposal
back to the Senate.
“I think it is imperative that we vote and
pass a referendum now,” Nettinga said. “We
need to put it in the hands of the students.”
The vote to address the proposal and either
initiate or deny the referendum process
at the next Senate meeting was passed by
a vote of 14-2-1.
In other news a promotion for the graphic
design junior Show caused a commotion on
campus this week due to its content. The
promotion used the image of a noose to promote
the artwork of the visual communications
class of 2004.
Whitney Lum, a representative of the class,
elaborated on the promotion and its intention,
and apologized for any misinterpretations
the image may have caused.
In response to Lum’s comments, Cal State
Long Beach President Robert Maxson applauded
her courage and the conviction of her presentation.
“No one supports censorship on this campus,”
Maxson said. “I have fought religiously
for the expression of art and the arts on
campus.”
Maxson said he was impressed by the leadership
that was displayed on campus and in the
Senate regarding the situation and acknowledged
the African Student Union, the Senate, and
Lum and her fellow students as examples
of outstanding leadership and CSULB’s diversity.
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