Union renovation makes navigation easier for patrons

Ryan M. Melton

Preliminary Memorial Union renovation plans were unveiled at Wednesday’s Government of the Student Body meeting.

Richard Reynolds, director of the Memorial Union, said the $17 million construction project will take about two years, but the project won’t go up for bids until the end of this year.

Reynolds said the renovation project includes remodeling 30,000 square feet and adding another 30,000 square feet. One of the main factors that drove the plans to renovate the Union was to make navigation simpler.

“It’s a difficult facility to find your way around,” Reynolds said.

Reynolds said other goals of the renovation include providing a new accessible south entry to the Union, improving access to the parking garage, increasing the ISU presence in the building and updating and expanding the space used by the University Book Store.

Reynolds said the bookstore pays $300,000 a year for storage of its materials in an off-campus facility, but the new renovation will allow for this storage to be brought to the Union.

In addition to Reynold’s presentation, representatives of the Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity spoke to the senate about the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity, which will be held from May 31 to June 4 in New York. The Iowa State chapter’s representative, Sarai Arnold, said the conference is aimed at instructing attendees of the conference on matters of diversity.

Alan Johnson, engineering senator, who attended the NCORE conference in 2003, said it is beneficial.

“I thought I knew a lot of issues on diversity, but everybody who goes learns tons of information,” Johnson said.

Arnold said the definition of diversity should be acceptance, understanding and awareness of people who are from different cultural backgrounds.

In addition to the presentations, Shawn Montague announced his resignation as vice speaker of the senate. In a nomination process that whittled five senators down to one, Leia Guccione, engineering senator, was selected to replace Montague, even though concerns were voiced by some senators that Guccione will be leaving Iowa State at the end of the semester.

As of press time, the GSB senate meeting had not come to an end. Other matters to be discussed were a funding bill on sending GSB members to the Big XII Leadership Conference and a bill to fund a trip for the Iowa State Celtic Dance Society.