The Nevada Sagebrush

ASUN President Eli Reilly speaks to senators and students about his proposal for a new $75 student fee.

A proposal for a new $75 student fee was put on hold for a week after a student senate committee meeting that lasted about three-and-a-half hours Wednesday night.

The fee proposal was brought to the senate committee on university affairs by Associated Students of the University of Nevada President Eli Reilly as an integral part of his Joint Vision 2017 Plan, an eight-year “roadmap” for the undergraduate student government.

As it stands now, the fee proposal is broken into three parts. The first part would go to support performing arts on campus, the second part would go to a tutoring center open to students and the third and largest part would go to a new student activities center.

The meeting drew more than 40 students, not counting senators and other student government officials, forcing some spectators to sit in the hallway outside the senate chambers in the Joe Crowley Student Union for part of it.

Although most of the students in attendance did not speak out during the public comment portions of the meeting, most of the ones who did said they disagreed with at least one aspect of the plan.

“For those of you who have already made up your minds to vote yes on this, I guess you think you’re smarter than us. (You think) that if we only knew how good the proposal was, we would vote yes right along with you,” said John Russell, a 21-year-old information systems major. “How dare you say you can spend our money better than we can? How dare you say you represent us? How dare you?”

Many of the senators he was addressing agreed with Russell, though. That is, at least as the plan stands now.

Jessica Purney, a senator who serves on the committee, said she would have voted no if the meeting would have made it that far, but does not necessarily disagree with the fee in general.

“We’ll just have to see,” Purney said. “It depends on the final proposal.”

The student activities center, which would take in almost $1.2 million under the proposal, would take a major funding weight off ASUN by paying for advisor salaries, student publications and student wages for front desk and sound and lighting staff, in addition to other things.

Many senators and members of the audience expressed concern to Reilly that moving these things out from under the ASUN tent means students lose control over how they are run, and how their money is spent.

“This plan to me, sounds very similar to what ASUN is doing,” Nathan Devlin, a 20-year-old accounting major, said. “The difference is it’s being taken out of students hands.”

The proposal hearing will continue next Wednesday after the ASUN Senate meeting at a time to be scheduled.

Jay Balagna can be reached at jbalagna@nevadasagebrush.com.

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