The Government of the Student Body passed a Senate resolution by a vote of 17-5-1 in support of the proposed $52.8 million recreation renovation project Wednesday night.

The vote came after a heated debate in which senators and members of the student body voiced their opinions about the project.

Thomas Augustine, GSB senator and sophomore in political science, was in favor of the project. He said the current state of recreation centers at Iowa State almost turned him away from attending school here.

“We’ve got to get this done, now that we have the chance to make this better, to bring our recreation facilities up to par,” he said. “We are way behind par from other universities.”

John Meyer, senior in materials engineering and president of the Triathalon Club, also voiced his support for the project, saying that the current facilities are not always sufficient for clubs.

“Currently there are only ‘X’ amount of hours of the day we can get pool time. We are left with the bread crumbs,” he said.

GSB Senator Charles Wakefield was one of the few senators who opposed the project, saying the project is proposing too much.

“There are a lot of people who do not use rec services,” he said. “There’s a lot of work that needs to be done, and they are just proposing too much. That’s just too much money – they should go for a cheaper option.”

GSB Senator Jonathon Turk, sophomore in political science, disagreed with Wakefield and said it would be an unwise not to support the renovation.

“It is shocking how decrepit that building [State Gym] is for this being Iowa State University of Science and Technology in 2008,” he said. “I do not believe the student fee is outrageous enough to warrant a big concern. It has my full support.”

GSB Senator Jacob Johnston, junior in pre-business, argued that although he supports the project, he said he did not know if all students are aware they would be paying for the project with their student fees. Johnston said that although fees would not be affected for the next year, they will be in the future, and students should be aware of the increase.

“By fixing all the problems now, we’ll actually be saving money in the long run when all the other fixes are needed and prices have risen,” he said. “I’m concerned about the knowledge of off-campus students about what the increase in price would be.”

GSB Senator Taleen Brady, senior in psychology, said fixing little problems instead of supporting the renovation would not be enough improvement for the student body.

“Even if you fix what’s already available, it’s not going to be enough. These [new] facilities will be used and more students will be using them because more opportunities will be available,” she said.

GSB Senator Andrew Boekelman, senior in sociology, disagreed, stating that the expansion seemed extravagant.

“Everyone agrees State Gym, Lied Rec and Beyer Hall need the renovations,” he said. “This expansion, though – that’s a little bit more questionable.”

GSB President Brian Phillips, senior in political science, said that because Iowa State is in a constant state of competition, the university should be trying to be the best in academics and campus and recreation services.

“This is a pretty fantastic opportunity for us to pool our resources and build something new that solves a number of problems at once,” he said.