Student Senators are planning to meet with focus groups next month to discuss the new aquatic center and how much students would be willing to pay for it. The aquatic center could be on the ballot next spring, but students should think carefully about the costs of such a project.
Robinson already has a pool for students to use, and the new aquatic center will not come cheap. The project will cost thousands of dollars to build and may raise students fees. A funding plan has not been established yet, but no doubt students will be paying for this expensive project.
In addition to the cost for the aquatic center, students must also consider time. Voting on this project will not take place until spring, and then building plans appointments with architects must be made before construction can even begin.
The entire project could take months, even years to finish. Current students would be paying for a project they would not able to enjoy.
Once the pool is finally completed, the arriving freshmen and transfer students will receive a brand new pool, courtesy of those attending the University now.
One argument for the pool is that the Student Recreation Fitness Center would be competitive with other schools, such as Mizzou’s, complete with Olympic size pool and lazy river.
Although having a top notch aquatic center looks good on paper, I would hope students would be more concerned about the quality of education they are receiving and not the size of their pool.
Having a new aquatic center will do nothing for my education. A new pool will not help me with my career goals or teach me time management. A new aquatic center will not give me a degree or help me plan my life after these short four years. I am already paying enough for my college education without the cost of an aquatic center I will never see.
Instead of raising student fees for a pool that would rarely be used, and might never be finished, Student Senate should propose bills to enhance the quality of education at the University. Preparing students for careers should be more of a priority than building a second pool on campus.
Students care enough about their education and their money to reject a new aquatic center, instead of simply checking yes.
Brown is a Wichita sophomore in journalism and political science.
Discussion
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Please don't raise my student fees for this project we don't need. Wait...why am I asking. I can just say no to begin with.
Robinson has crappy hours. If you want to fix this problems, fix Robinson. Also remember that there is an indoor aquatic center here in lawrence...if I want to swim I can go there. There's even a T bus stop right by the front door.
How do you know that "current students would pay for the current project" if a "funding plan has not been established."????
You admit that you don't know how it will be paid for, but then tell students that you have some sort of hidden insight and know that whatever fee will be implemented before they leave. Extremely misleading.
Instead, you might recommend that Student Senate ensure that only those who get to use it, pay for it.
Personally, I think it's about damn time for this aquatic center to happen.
While we could use a real aquatics center at KU (since every other Big 12 school has one), the author is right that it makes little sense to propose a new center when we simply do not use the existing pool facility. Why is it not being staffed by the university? Why are the current hours so restricted as to make it completely useless to students? At my previous university (a Big 12 university that has two full sized pools), I swam every day. Now I have to shell out money at a private club to use a pool during convenient hours.
The author is wrong however, to use the delayed gratification argument. There are many facilities on campus that were paid for by previous generations yet never enjoyed by those students who footed the bill. Its just the way things at a university work.
I believe the author is wrong with this issue. If KU builds an aquatic center, it can possibly attract a lot more capital to KU simply because people see KU as something that is growing and expanding.
If the issue were to come up, I would vote yes.
We must build this aquatic center, because already MU has a more powerful aquatic center than we do. If MU strikes now, we will be caught completely off guard, with no recourse. Once we have a larger, more powerful aquatic center, we will be able to strike preemptively at the heart of MU, obliterating all resistance and removing the threat once and for all. And when we stand in the hip deep puddle of the wreckage of MU, we can stand proud and say mission accomplished.
I don't want to pay for an aquatic center I will never use. Please don't raise my fees. I already pay enough for things I do use, like the rec center, buses, health care from watkins, KJHK, the UDK, various student groups I'm in and stuff that I don't use- such as cops on segways, that boathouse, free entry to sporting events I don't care about, I'm sure there's other stuff too.
"You admit that you don't know how it will be paid for, but then tell students that you have some sort of hidden insight and know that whatever fee will be implemented before they leave. Extremely misleading."
It's true, none of us know how it will be paid for just yet, but the only funding mechanism I've heard is using a $20 fee that's set to expire in 2011 or 2012. Personally I'd like to see that fee expire. I will probably vote against putting this on the ballot in the spring, because not enough students will vote on it. I don't like hearing students who don't vote complaining "they raised my fees again?"
If the administration of this university wants a new aquatic center, they can pay for it themselves with donor money. Use the rec services fee for upkeep, staffing and maintenance, but please find another way to pay for this.
Sjschlag:"I will probably vote against putting this on the ballot in the spring."
Wow. So much for letting students voice their own opinion.
I completely agree with the author. I don't want to pay for a new aquatic center that I will never get to use. Even if it were to be completed in the next two years, I still wouldn't use it. Nor do I use the segways, boat house, and other things as "sjschlag" mentioned.
I would also be voting No to put this on the ballot, because I believe that a NEW aquatic center is unnecessary. Robinson should just be better staffed, so it has more convenient hours for students.
"Wow. So much for letting students voice their own opinion."
you mean 20% of the students approving or failing an opinion of the administration. Elections at KU are a joke, and until 50% of the enrolled population at KU actually give a #$%^ about where their student fees go, they will still be a joke. If you want to hear students voice their opinion, read the comments on here, do a survey, make a focus group, maybe a charette or whatever urban planners do. do something other than asking a yes or no question on a ballot. It's obvious that this is a controversial issue. Let's not wash our hands of responsibility of an unpopular decision by making the students "decide".
And also, I don't want this on the ballot because my fees are already outrageous. I might not be here next year, but I really like the idea of my sister or brother (who will be coming here next year) not paying an additional $20 per semester. Economic times are tough now. Let's put this pool question away and focus on more pressing issues- like where the money will come from to make up for the budget cuts this year.
What do people who criticize this piece think about the idea of making the Robinson pool more accessible? That hasn't been addressed much in this post-column banter.
Does anyone realize that the rec center that we use now was paid for by students before us. My brother, class of 2005, never got to use the new rec center but still paid for it.
We need a new pool. The locker rooms are horrible. The swim and dive team needs to get new recruits and it is hard to do when everyone else in the conference has a new pool. There are other sports besides basketball and football who deserve new facilities. This was supposed to passed 4 years ago and should be dealt with so that future generations can actually use a state of the art pool.
BCohen is correct. Making Robinson more accessible is the first issue that needs to be addressed.
Why not make Robinson open to student use all day long (i.e. 7am - 10 pm) and then use that as a case study, focus group, whatever you want to call it, for analyzing how much a new aquatics center would be utilized.
Robinson is not an adequate stick for the dog that is MU. We must obtain a larger stick with which to beat them, long and hard. Besides, Robinson has become old. And like all old things, it is useless and must be thrown away, and we must spend more to build a new aquatic center. With a bitchin slide.
i aint paying a @#$@ cent for a pool. We need to be paying these horrible editorial writers more for their lack of knowledge before we invest any money on a pool. maybe send these douchbag writers to the writers roost and talk to them about credibility. I think a student fee pays for that. Wow. F the pool.
i just read everyone's post and that schlag guy knows a lot about student senate - maybe we should blame it on him - i'm just a committee member but it sound like he knows his stuff.....why dont we see what that guy can do for us - hey schlag - do some magic
what i'm pissed about is - why arent there any editorials about why i'm paying so much for schooling, and why i am paying so much money so people who ride the bus for free can gain a couple pounds while being lazy instead of walking. Now that I think about it, id rather have a pool to get some of these fat-@$$'s who take the bus all day, to lose some weight - whoever proposed this pool thing, nice work
Last post on this until next time- swear to god.
"The swim and dive team needs to get new recruits and it is hard to do when everyone else in the conference has a new pool. There are other sports besides basketball and football who deserve new facilities. This was supposed to passed 4 years ago and should be dealt with so that future generations can actually use a state of the art pool."
Didn't we do something like this before? When a certain corporation wanted to build a boathouse for the women's rowing team? I'm not subsidizing a profitable business venture anymore. If Athletics wants to improve the swimming and diving facilities, let them find the money to do it. My student fees are there for services that are necessary and affordable. The buses are necessary, they get me and lots of other people to class. The health center is great if I need to see a doctor, and helpful to students who might not have the best healthcare coverage. The Rec Center fee already exists, and was created during a time when there was a need for better workout facilities, and there was the ability to pay for them (we're in a recession now). Seriously, this is not the time or place to be talking about a new pool!
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