Student senators from the Tempe and Downtown campuses will vote next week to support a facilities fee that would help create new and expanded buildings on all four campuses.
The Undergraduate Student Government Senate will vote on a $125 per semester fee on Oct. 27. The Downtown student senate will vote Oct. 30 on a $75 fee after the Friday vote ended in a tie with no constitutional method of breaking it.
ASU’s Polytechnic campus passed a $75 per semester fee on Sept. 4, followed by the West campus, which on Sept. 25 passed a $75 per semester fee that could go up to $400.
The Associated Students of Arizona State University Downtown’s Friday vote ended in a 5-5 split between senators.
The decision by the senators will reflect what the students want, said journalism sophomore Beth Wischnia, ASASUD vice president.
“Personally I am supportive of the fee, but it’s not my decision, it’s the senators’ and their decision is based on the constituents, so ultimately, it’s up to the students,” she said.
The fee is necessary to allow the Downtown campus to continue to grow and be successful, Wischnia said.
Journalism freshman Jessica Abercrombie voted in favor of facilities fee.
She said money raised by a fee would provide students with more accommodations and students would likely respond well to the $75 per semester price tag.
“It’s not too expensive,” Abercrombie said. “It’s below $100 so it has more face value, but it’s not as cheap as $50 either.”
A facilities fee would help accommodate the Downtown campus’ growing population, said nursing sophomore Joel Blumanglag, who voted in favor of the fee.
“If you’re going to envision a university in many places, then we all need the same amenities on all the campuses,” Bumanglag said.
He added that he is currently working with nursing sophomore Amanda Cram to survey students and has found that those surveyed are also split 50-50 on the fee.
Nonprofit leadership and management junior Joe Pettinato voted against the measure because he didn’t feel comfortable proposing a fee without a specific plan for what the money will fund.
“I think what the presidents have been proposing at some of the campuses is backward,” Pettinato said. “Before we decide what this money needs to go toward, we need to ask ourselves what needs to change on our campuses.”
The senate should really be conducting research and discussing how expansions could be implemented, he said.
Reach the reporter at allison.gatlin@asu.edu.
