Following heated debate regarding student representation in
the layout of the RIMAC Annex, the Athletic, Recreation and Sports Facilities
Advisory Board has recommended the implementation of two ad-hoc committees that
would oversee the use of the campus’ intercollegiate athletics and sports
facilities and recreation fees.

ARSFAB Student co-Chair Dan Palay, who made the
recommendation at the board’s last meeting, said the committees will help cultivate a
motivated core group experienced with handling budgetary matters, a skill that
has taken past members several quarters to develop.

“Too often, ARSFAB takes a while to get moving because it
doesn’t have people trained to look at budgets,” Palay said.

Palay said that while ARSFAB has a relatively high annual
turnover rate among members, he hoped the committees’ membership would be “less
fluid.”

While he said that the committees would not have any
immediate role in the annex project, which was criticized by several members of
the A.S. Council for what they labeled as a lack of student input in its
planning, Palay predicted that they would become involved when the annex’s
budget is released.

“I’ve been tossing the idea around for a while, and with
this new controversy over the RIMAC Annex … the committees seem logical,” he
said.

Palay’s committees will determine a student-to-staff member
ratio based on ARSFAB’s current makeup or, in the case of the sports facilities
and recreation fee, proportional to the percentage paid by students.

Sports Facilities Director Donald Chadwick said that while
further communication regarding the committees is necessary, he believes their
implementation would have a positive impact on ARSFAB.

“I personally think that it’s a good idea and will provide
an opportunity for board members to examine budget and policy recommendations
more closely,” he said. “I also wouldn’t be opposed to a recommendation that
the committees be made into permanent standing committees of ARSFAB if that is
what our board would like to do.”

However, ARSFAB member and Registration Fee Advisory
Committee Chair Garo Bournoutian said he felt the board’s problems run deeper
than the high turnover rate of members.

“I don’t think [Palay’s] proposal will make any real
positive change,” he said. “It will just introduce additional meetings in an
already unenthused board. Most likely the subcommittees will be poorly
attended.”

Bournoutian said he proposed an alternative division at the
last ARSFAB meeting, which would have effectively split the board into two
committees similar to those envisioned by Palay. Instead of serving as advisory
committees to the greater ARSFAB board, however, Bournoutian’s committees would
have replaced them.

Though Bournoutian said student members of ARSFAB raised few
objections to his proposal, he encountered “significant opposition” from
Chadwick and Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Penny Rue, who argued that the
board’s three central topics — facilities, athletics and recreation — work
closely together and should remain a single entity.

“My current feeling is that [administrators] would not like
to see the board split up,” Bournoutian said.

Regarding the annex, Chadwick said student opinion will be
considered when naming rooms within the building, selecting a vendor to operate
the planned cafe space and determining the facility’s hours of operation.

“Additional student input is important and will continue to
be necessary for the annex as well as other planned sports facilities,” he
said.

Palay said he hopes to have the committees staffed and
operational within the next few weeks.