Student Senate will meet tonight to determine how $2.3 million of students’ tuition will be used next school year.

The meeting will decide the funding for various departments, such as athletics and recreation.

Some of the key issues of tonight’s Senate session could be the possible funding for the development of an on-campus stadium, the WUEC student radio station, and free athletic tickets if students pay an extra fee each semester, according to a Senate fact sheet.

Senate Finance Director Nate Otto said the possibility of a new on-campus stadium could be the biggest thing since the expansion of the Davies Center and Chancellors Hall. But he advised for patience.

“No contractors have been contacted,” Otto said. “No concrete plans have been made.”

A new stadium most likely would be in the area of Simpson Field, he said. Otto placed the cost of a new arena between $2 million and $9 million, but said that right now “any exact number would be more misleading than helpful.”

Otto summed the situation up by saying, “The question is: Are students willing to throw in $105,000 for something we don’t know any specifics on?”

As for WUEC, Senate will decide whether to allocate the $14,490 that the finance committee chose to not to fund the station. WUEC, which has been used as an outlet for students interested in mass media and an extension of Wisconsin Public Radio more recently, received a resurgence of student interest late last semester.

“Last year the station was allocated nothing because its surplus equaled the amount it requested,” Otto said. “WUEC is emerging out of a rut.”

The station has a long-term growth plan to get more students involved, Otto said, but some student senators feel it’s inappropriate to use segregated fees to fund academic programs as it “sets a precedent for student fees to pick up the slack in times of state budget cuts.”

Andrew Kennedy, an off-campus senator, said WUEC is temporarily under WPR control and that WUEC is “ultimately a teaching tool.”

The idea of free student tickets for on-campus sporting events failed at last year’s budget meeting with Senate voting 20-5 against it. Some senators raised concern over the fairness to other programs.

An extra $3.50 added to the total tuition bill for each student every semester might create the funding source for free student tickets to home sporting events.

“It’s not how we feel, but what we do that counts,” Otto said. “The majority of effort shown by the students supports free tickets.”

The Senate meeting will take place at 6 p.m. today in the Tamarack Room of Davies Center. The meeting is open to the public.