UW-Madison and community voices offered opinions on favorable social settings at a symposium Tuesday night intended to stimulate discourse on the Wisconsin Union Facilities Improvement Plan.
Wisconsin Union programming and planning analyst Gwen Drury kicked off the symposium, offering reason for the occasion.Whenever you're going to do something really big and huge that really is going to affect your future direction,\ Drury said, ""it's time to step back and start thinking about who you are and what you are and why you're doing it."" Drury reminded the audience that the idea of a Wisconsin Union was much more than simple renovation and construction. ""The Wisconsin Union is a concept, not a building,"" Drury said.
Mark Guthier, director of the Wisconsin Union, addressed the audience regarding possible plans for Memorial Union and Union South. ""The summation of what we've learned from the students this last fall and what we're proposing [is to] think of it as a historic restoration and renovation project,"" Guthier said in reference to Memorial Union. There are issues in Memorial Union that need to be addressed such as improved ventilation systems, technology and accessibility, but the space will retain its present ""feel"", according to Guthier. However, Union South may be headed for a grimmer fate.
""What we heard from students was … pretty loud and clear that what we currently provide them is not what they want,"" Guthier said. The floor was then opened up to a discussion of different social atmospheres on campus. Both audience members and panelists were asked to expound upon such issues as social connectivity in existing programs, places on campus that nurture interpersonal connections and possible problems with campus sprawl.The symposium raised some important issues, according to UW-Madison freshman Craig Hanson, who was surprised at the breadth of topics covered. ""It's got me thinking about not just about facilities like the new union,"" Hanson said. ""It's got me thinking about my place on campus.""\
