The people closely involved with planning for the new referendum deciding whether a new student center should replace the current Davies Center hope students will make an educated decision, free of misinformation, while voting March 3-6.

Andy Soll, vice chancellor of business and student services, said one cause for potential worry is the brief amount of time students will have to become knowledgeable on the issue.

“It’s definitely a concern,” he said. But, one month allows a fair amount of time for students to educate themselves on the issue considering the amount of available information, he said.

He points to resources such as brochures, the new student center Web site and forums on the new student center referendum serving to help students get a grasp on the topic.

Students began paying $9.50 per semester this year for the Davies’ referendum passed in 2000. If the option for a new student center prevails, additional segregated fees would be collected beginning in the 2004-2005 academic year to fund the building.

Segregated fees amount to “what students charge themselves” for supporting areas such as Davies and Crest Centers, recreation and book rental, said Director of University Centers and Programs Mitch Kilcrease. He emphasized the fees cannot be used for anything within the university such as academic buildings, infrastructure and academic staff.

The plan recently proposed by the Student Center Planning Committee – one of three plans considered by the Davies Committee – calls for a gradual increase in segregated fees rather than one with widely varying increases.

“The (total of) $140 doesn’t happen overnight,” Kilcrease said. “It’s phased in over a period of years.”

If the new student center referendum passes, students would first pay $19 toward the project in the fall semester of the 2004-2005 year, bringing the total amount of segregated fees to $381.89, according to a shared committee document.

The fees would then increase another $37 per semester in the 2005-2006 and finally $46 in 2006-2007. Segregated fees per semester would then total $491.10. This $102 coupled with the full $38 from the 2000 Davies referendum totals $140 per full-time student – the amount needed to start the construction of a new student center.

By comparison, if students vote against a new building, 2004-2005 would bring a segregated fee charge of $362.89 and $389.40 in 2006-2007.

Regardless of whether a new building is authorized, students can expect a 3 to 4 percent average annual increase in segregated fees due to normal increases in operating costs, Soll said.

Many individuals heavily involved in the planning appear to favor a new building.

“We have to invest one way or the other,” said Student Senate President Sarah Schuh, referring to the payment for a new building or the maintenance of Davies Center.

The newly projected costs for Davies maintenance would cost about $33.1 million, far above an estimated $8.5 million authorized by students in 2000.

The process by which the Davies Referendum was approved in 2000 was the root of the process, said Kilcrease. The committee developing a plan was required to estimate the cost of the project and then have professionals make an estimate.

The final figure presented by the contractors and engineers caught students off guard.

“I think the (Davies) Committee was shocked,” Schuh said.

Calling the system “very much backwards,” Kilcrease said this explains the large financial differences in Davies structural deficits.

After the professional estimate of Davies’ renovations, Kilcrease said the issue became a “conflict of what students wanted and what we were able to do.”

If students only approve the $8.5 million in renovations, he said many students would never notice any changes and in many cases, usable space within the building would actually grow smaller due to new building codes needing to be met. The end product would result in fewer activities being held in Davies.

In the meantime, he stressed the Davies Center is safe.

“We are in code,” he said. However, Kilcrease and Soll warned any new expansion to Davies would require the building to be brought up to the latest codes and would require many programs and students to be relocated during the construction.

The administration and Davies Committee encourages students to educate themselves on the new Davies referendum and think of the long-term results.

“I fear students will have to pay twice,” said senior Jennifer Birk, a Davies Committee member. She said hopes students are educating themselves on the issue, but fears “people have already made up their mind.”

Students shouldn’t stop the process of building, Kilcrease said, or in the future someone will be “getting socked.”

Regardless of the issue,” Soll said, “becoming familiar with the issues and voting are things, as a citizen, you do.”