Glenn Connelly / Photo Editor

Standing tall, in the center of meeting and office spaces, a bowling alley, a radio station and the San Diego State Associated Students Council Chambers, is a lone and robust sycamore tree 8212; the same one that was planted more than 40 years ago during the construction of Aztec Center.

Four decades and a doubled student body later, A.S. is looking to leave its own symbol of growth and strength: a new student union called ModernSpace. They’ll just need one thing before breaking ground: your vote.

A survey to gauge student opinion of ModernSpace will be available on WebPortal for two weeks beginning Sept. 14, according to A.S. Executive Vice President and ModernSpace Committee Chair Jeremy Katz. Similar to the one conducted in 2006, the survey will consist of questions about what services and programs students would like in their student union and if they support building a new one.

After the survey is conducted, the ModernSpace Committee, along with its facility planners Brailsford & Dunlavey and architecture company Cannon Design, will use the results to plan the building and determine construction costs.

In spring, A.S. will hold a referendum for students to vote on a fee increase to fund ModernSpace. If passed, Katz said construction is expected to begin in Fall 2011 with a completion date set for Spring 2013. He added that the student fee increase would not be imposed until ModernSpace’s doors open.

Katz said although many students who vote will no longer be at SDSU to use the new student union, he hopes that people consider the wants and needs of future students.
Mike Arvizu, a public relations junior, and Jillian Robinson, a speech and language pathology junior, said they both voted in 2006 to approve the fee increase associated with ModernSpace.

Arvizu said even though he won’t reap the benefits of ModernSpace, he doesn’t mind voting on behalf of future students.

“I don’t see how else there could be a vote 8212; go ask high-schoolers?” Arvizu said.
If the measure fails in the upcoming referendum, the fee increase that student voters approved in 2006, which was supposed to fund ModernSpace, will go toward repairs on Aztec Center.

Because of a downturn in the economy and an increase in bond interest rates, the student fee increase originally voted on would not cover the cost to build ModernSpace.

“The building services department that runs Aztec Center has been limping along and sticking bubble gum over the problems, knowing and hoping that ModernSpace construction will begin soon,” Katz said.

This semester’s first ModernSpace meeting will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 18 in the Casa Real meeting room in Aztec Center. Katz said the meeting is open to all students and organizations interested in attending and sharing their ideas about the future of Aztec Center.