Space is at a premium in the University’s aging student union, and University organizations and student groups are feeling the squeeze this year.
Programs and groups housed in the EMU are being asked to voluntarily reduce by 20 percent material they store anywhere in the building.
EMU Director Dusty Miller said there is hardly any storage space left. Small rooms behind Panda Express, in the Skylight Lounge area and the mezzanine hallway are some of the only storage spaces remaining, and they are full, he said.
“I believe we need to look systematically at the EMU to determine if it’s capable of handling the demands of the students and the University in 2006-07,” Miller said, adding that he is not sure the EMU is capable of handling those demands.
Miller said he plans to ask the EMU Board to address space concerns and five other “critical issues” at its first meeting, held tonight at 4 p.m. in the EMU Board Room.
Built in two parts, the EMU includes a red brick portion finished in the 1950s and a concrete and glass portion completed in the 1970s.
Miller said the building was designed to accommodate the needs of 14,000 students, far less than the University’s current enrollment of about 20,000.
Many programs call the EMU home, including Club Sports, the student government and other student organizations.
“EMU programs have grown, but the building has not,” Miller said, noting that some of the areas currently occupied by programs were once storage areas.
KWVA General Manager Charlotte Nisser said the radio station is in a bind because of its recent change from being an ASUO program to an EMU program.
“We have been asking for storage space for a long time,” Nisser said.
The ASUO has asked KWVA to move items currently housed in ASUO storage space, but the EMU simply doesn’t have any room, she said.
KWVA stores back-up equipment and documentation that is required by the FCC. The station has yet to come up with any solutions to the space issue.
ASUO President Jared Axelrod said the ASUO is working to reduce how much it keeps in storage. The ASUO is required to keep financial records, but some have been archived.
“We were down here with boxes and boxes of stuff,” Axelrod said.
Legally, the EMU administration is also required to store some financial, official and business records. Other things in storage include tables and chairs for large events, audio and visual equipment and preventive maintenance materials.
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