The choice falls on the students whether improvements to the Memorial Union will be funded by an increase in student fees or if the project will be dropped.

Student Government voted to have the Memorial Union referendum placed on the student ballot. 

During the Student Government elections on March 7 and 8, Iowa State students will be able vote to support a student fee increase to fund the Memorial Union renovation. 

The renovation would expand the Memorial Union to provide more dining seating, study space and veteran resources, as well as other improvements. 

A PowerPoint presentation included visuals that showed the interior and exterior views of what the renovated building will look like. 

The project will receive Iowa State funding from various sources amounting to $10 million and $350,000 from the Memorial Revenues toward bond payment. 

The rest will be funded from an increase in student fees phased in over two years, eventually amounting to $72 per student per semester. 

Also during the meeting, Student Government President Cole Staudt updated the Senate on the progress of the medical amnesty bill.

Implementing the medical amnesty bill in Iowa was an idea of Staudt’s and Vice President Cody West’s during their campaign.

The bill would allow underage drinkers to call for medical assistance without fear of legal repercussions.

Staudt said he would be attending a subcommittee meeting Thursday in Des Moines hoping to move the bill to the judiciary committee.

“It’s been over a year-long process, but we’re not done yet,” Staudt said.

The bill would also protect the person who calls for help, as long as they stay with the victim until they are safely in emergency care.

“It’s no secret that students who are underage are drinking and are experimenting,” Staudt said. “Sometimes those experiments go wrong and they need someone to take them to the hospital.”

Staudt’s personal experience, as he has previously shared, is part of what inspired his support for the bill.

When a friend was on the verge of alcohol poisoning, Staudt did not take the underage drinker to the hospital to avoid getting in trouble with the law.

The choice led to a near-death experience for his friend, which later opened Staudt’s eyes to the possibility for change, which is why it was introduced as a part of the Staudt and West running platform.

“We envision this as a way for students who need help to get help,” Staudt said.

Iowa is one of 14 states that does not have a medical amnesty law. After Thursday’s discussion and vote at the Capitol, the bill could be put further in motion at the state level.

Staudt and West, as well as other supporters of the bill, urge people to consider that it is about student safety.

“This bill could save lives,” Staudt said.

Other orders of business during Wednesday’s Student Government meeting included: 

• Supplementing the Annual Allocations Process for FY18
• Funding Ski and Snowboard Club Nationals
• Funding Iowa State Wrestling Club Competition
• Upcoming city discussion of security cameras in Campustown
• Upcoming city discussion of green space addition in Campustown