Even though there were several forums, input meetings and milk and cookie sessions about it, I never voiced my opinion on the renovation and remodeling of the unions on campus. And it may be too late to get these suggestions in, but I figure why not? So union planning committee, get this down, I've got a plan of my own.
Now before we can talk updates, I need to address the name of the campaign. Acronyms are very powerful—look what they did for SCUBA and RADAR. But when you make one up, it needs to be catchy. WUFIP was on the right track. It sounds kind of like someone hocking a loogie in reverse, and it makes people laugh. However, it may not be as memorable as some other acronyms you could come up with. I have developed WUFLIPPYCUP: Wisconsin Union Fire Leaves Individuals in Peril, Please Pay Your Cash Ultra Promptly. This acronym gets right to the point.
Student: Why are we renovating Memorial Union?\
WUFLIPPYCUP Supporter: ""Because in a fire we'd all burn alive since everything in there is super old.""
Student: ""What do I have to do to avoid this?""
WUFLIPPYCUP Supporter: ""Fork over the money.""
Plus in any election, you are bound to have people vote uninformed, so calling something WUFLIPPYCUP is sure to drum up support from the otherwise apathetic.
With the acronym settled, I have a few things to say about the renovations. If the vote passes to do some work on the unions and I am paying for part of it, I would like to have my suggestions taken into account. I only have a few, but I think they were sorely left out of some of the initial drawings for the plan.
One thing that needs to change about the union is the odor. The first floor of the union smells like popcorn and hotdogs. It doesn't matter what time it is. It doesn't matter if anyone is even making hotdogs, the whole place just reeks of lukewarm food. And don't get me wrong, most of the food at the union is pretty tasty, but that smell is doing the eateries a horrible injustice. I come out of that place and have to change my clothes. Let's get some fresh air in there, maybe a plug-in air freshener or a scented candle. Those would be inexpensive solutions to a frequently ignored problem.
As for Union South, you can go ahead and tear that down. What would I like to see there instead? A food court with the following restaurants: Wendy's, White Castle, IHOP and anything but another sub shop. There are hardly any good restaurants in that neighborhood, and it would bring people to the west side of campus for more than football. If you threw wireless Internet, beer and soft chairs in there, people may never go home. Any place I can check my e-mail and get 99-cent chicken nuggets is a place I will study, hold meetings and schedule conferences. Throw in a few blueberry pancakes and I will pay rent.
When the battle over WUFIP finally ends and we end up emptying our pockets or crossing our fingers in hopes we avoid a fire, I hope we can all come back together and find something new to disagree about. Our constant divisive campus issues are what make Madison a fun place to be. Let's keep it up, even post-WUFIP. I'll get the ball rolling, who wants to talk about the Living Wage?
To agree to disagree with Erin, e-mail your thoughts to her at erincanty8285@hotmail.com.
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