The Wisconsin Union Initiative will be back on the UW-Madison student government's—Associated Students of Madison—election ballot this October, but the campaign has a new name, is run entirely by students and plans to charge students less in added segregated fees.
If last year's vote had passed, each student would pay an extra $96 in segregated fees per semester to pay for Union improvements more than 30 years. The present initiative would cost students $48 per semester for the first two years of the plan. After 2008, the Union, Board of Regents and the ASM Student Services Finances Committee would raise the fees to $96 per semester.
UW-Madison junior and director of communications for the Student Union Initiative's campaign management team John Sinclair said the price was lowered for the first two years to encourage upperclassmen to embrace the initiative.
""Students who are voting now won't get to see as many of the changes during their time at school, so it helps them to not have to pay as much,"" said UW-Madison junior and Director of Communications for the Student Union Initiative's campaign management team John Sinclair.
The vote to renovate Memorial Union and replace Union South did not pass last spring after technical problems in online voting. After post-vote surveys, focus groups and professional brainstorming, Union employees and volunteers decided to scrap the old campaign, Wisconsin Union Facilities Improvement Plan, and start over with the SUI.
""It's the same as before, with the Wisconsin Union Directorate and Hoofers taking the most active roles, but also, many other students have been getting involved as well,"" Wisconsin Union Director of Communications Marc Kennedy said.
""Now the important thing is that students understand what's at stake and the need for renovations at Memorial Union to keep the same ambiance and not do it piecemeal over a long period of time,"" he said. ""That would cost more.""
Wisconsin Union President and UW-Madison senior Shayna Hetzel said she feels encouraged by having more non-Union employees and students involved in the initiative. She said since more students from different groups are involved, these student leaders can pass more information directly to the student body, making the campaign more transparent.
Sinclair admitted SUI still has a fair amount of work in the coming months because most new students do not know about the issue on the ballot. He said he hopes the increase in volunteers and work done over the summer will offset the campaign challenges.
