The Undergraduate Budget Priorities Committee, a five-student group that proposes undergraduate improvements to Northwestern’s Budget Committee, has begun to plan its 2001-2002 proposal, which could include dining renovations, cable television in dorms and a new lecture series on campus, leaders said Monday.
UBPC will meet with Vice President for Student Affairs William Banis, Senior Vice President for Business and Finance Eugene Sunshine and Associate Vice President of the Budget James Elsass next week to discuss the preliminary list, said Kate Duffy, committee member and ASG public relations chairwoman.
“It’s good to get their opinions so then we can go back and do more research,” said Duffy, a Speech senior.
Last year the UBPC asked for and received improvements worth $2.16 million, including new undergraduate advisers in Weinberg and Speech, and structural improvements to Shanley Pavilion and the Black House. UBPC member Tamara Kagel said that although members hope to equal last year’s successes, they realize NU’s budget will be tight.
Although their ideas currently are muddled and many, committee members say they are each researching specific topics and focus areas.
“We usually have 50 to 60 ideas,” said UBPC member and Associated Student Government President Jordan Heinz. “These aren’t at all final ideas.”
By the end of Winter Quarter the committee will narrow its idea pool to between five and eight proposals for presentation to the Budget Committee, said Heinz, an Education senior.
One long-standing idea that might be included in this year’s final proposal is cable television in dorm rooms, Heinz said.
“Every year since I was a freshman, there’s been a bill (in the Senate) about cable in dorms,” Heinz said.
Changes made by Information Technology, including bandwidth improvements, might help the item to pass this year, he said, leaving only financial and legal matters to be worked out.
“The university has always said, ‘We’re waiting until the appropriate technology comes out to run it through the Internet lines,'” Heinz said. “That technology is here now.”
Duffy said another focus area is the creation of more NU-sponsored activities, such as the NU Day at Wrigley Field that took place during Spring Quarter last year. The Sesquicentennial Office planned that day and other activities last year, including a campuswide picnic.
“They’re just things we think the university should do on a more regular basis to foster community,” Duffy said.
Potential events could be a day at the Shedd Aquarium or a theme park or some sort of cultural event any place “where NU can sponsor (the event) and get cheap tickets for students to go,” said Kagel, a Speech sophomore.
UBPC also will be targeting NU’s Latino and Greek communities this year, just as it targeted the theater and black communities on campus last year, Heinz said. The committee plans to meet with groups including the Residential College Board, the Dining Services Committee and the Interfraternity Council executive board to gather ideas.
Committee members also will seek input from NU students via e-mail at [email protected] and by word of mouth, Duffy said.
