Having a midday beer with friends. Playing the piano between classes. Taking a belly-dancing class. Buying concert tickets. Chilling and shooting pool. Do these sound like activities you would have to go all over campus, or even Ames, to do? It might surprise you that they all can be done in one centralized building on campus, the Memorial Union. It might shock you even more to know that you, as a student, are a part-owner of this building — for another 25 days.

As a consensus between Iowa State, the Iowa Board of Regents and the Memorial Union Corporation, a transfer of ownership from the students to the university has been effective since Jan. 1, but because of extensive paperwork, will not be complete until April 1.

While I understand there are many reasons and advantages to this transfer, it might also have results students may be kept in the dark about.

So why is this transpiring? And what effects could it have on the Memorial Union, and you as a student? Read on…

The Memorial Union has been associated with student ownership ever since its beginnings in 1928. According to its Web site, www.mu.iastate.edu, the Memorial Union was constructed shortly after the commencement of World War I as a memorial to fallen Iowa State soldiers. Funding was privately provided by a nonprofit organization, not the university, and it has been owned by students ever since.

First of all, continuing to be student-owned makes the Memorial Union, in itself, unique. There are no student-owned unions left in Iowa, and, in fact, the only ones left are in the state of Kansas. Being a separate entity from the university means the chance for more distinctive opportunities and activities, things the university might not support, but make the campus diverse and one of a kind.

In general, I can simply foresee the dynamic of the Memorial Union changing. Even though most students didn’t know they partially owned it in the first place, there is an underlying culture that always exists, and being employed and involved in daily activities of the Memorial Union for two years made me appreciate it for what is really is.

An obvious condition of this transfer is that all Memorial Union employees will become ISU employees. While the university insists no jobs will be lost, and shifting of positions will be minimal, common sense and a little bit of business background tells me that it will be very difficult to undergo a major management shift and still satisfy the current 100 full-time and 250 part-time employees, many of which are students.

One of the more drastic changes will come at the expense of the M-Shop, a cozy little caf‚ characterized by reasonably priced lunches, sold-out local band performances and the only place on campus that serves beer. As a stipulation of the new management, the M-Shop will serve the only best chicken patties and pudding cake Dining Services has to offer. I also cannot see the M-Shop attracting as many acts or selling as many Bud Lights once the university takes over.

It seems the university has been adequately preparing for this replacement; a multi-million dollar renovation is in the works, the main focuses being improving handicap accessibility and increased entryways. I completely understand why the handicapped accessibility needs to improve (to be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act), but more entrances? There are only so many ways to come into a building. Hotel rooms will also be redone to look like every other modern hotel room in existence, instead of preserving the rare, historical d‚cor they have now.

If you are wondering where this money is coming from for all these improvements, it is a question you should be asking. A $15 fee will magically appear on your U-bill to help fund this renovation project, although I don’t remember paying a fee when Hoover Hall or any of the other five construction projects on campus were launched.

Examples of the impact of the renovation project are the Alumni Association and Student Alumni Leadership Council offices. Because the proposed renovation would put a walkway directly through their offices, they have chosen to move off campus and construct their own building.

Unfortunately, there is not much we can do as students. The decision has already been made, and it will take effect in less than a month. The smartest thing we can do is arm ourselves with information and awareness.