Student union resolution a good start, but lacks force

On Tuesday, the Student Council passed a resolution to turn Levering Union into a student union.

Yay.

Don't get us wrong. We've pushed for a student union for a long time, and we commend StuCo for finally sitting up and taking notice of what is possibly the student body's most glaring need. Unfortunately, a Student Council resolution has about the same effect as a UN resolution. Except that StuCo can't even get together a multinational military coalition to back them up. Class of 2002 President Stephen Goutman acknowledged this in part when he said that the resolution was "a symbolic stand by the student council saying we want, need, demand a student union." The point he (perhaps inadvertently) hit upon there is that the stand is, by necessity, purely symbolic. The fact of the matter is that there is little that Student Council can do to force its will upon the administration. It's a rather existential situation, when you come right down to it: In an attempt to order our environment, we are utterly at the mercy of an often unresponsive and uncaring administration.

The resolution calls for the Great Hall to be turned into a permanent lounge, turning the Sherwood Room (which, by way of comment, is rather isolated from the rest of Levering) into a game room, putting a restaurant in E-Level (oh, wait. sounds kind of like when it used to serve food and beer way back when) and putting in a Pizza Hut and student-run not-for-profit enterprises in some undetermined location.

We have to say, it sounds like a promising proposal, although the very layout of the building raises a few questions: For example, what's to be done with the huge space in Levering lobby? It would have to be completely remade (what purpose does the desk serve in a student union?) and refurnished. Furthermore, the very partitioned nature of Levering's interior makes for exactly the opposite of what one would hope for in a student union, namely an open, easy-to-navigate space in which socialize. Having to navigate Levering's odd hallways to move from zone to zone seems almost to recreate our current problems on a microcosmic scale: everything's too spread out, with no central locus of student activity. Perhaps a better option, if it's at all feasible, would be to rip out most or all of Levering's internal walls and start from scratch with the new, larger space.

These potential problems aside, however, the intention behind the resolution is commendable, and we support Student Council's effort to serve their constituency in a meaningful manner. The main problem lies not in reworking the details of the project's execution, but in the administration's willingness to act on it. How will they take to the loss of that space for their own purposes? To the potentially large expense involved? To the idea of all those students in one place realizing suddenly that they don't have to study all the time?

Let's just say we're not holding our breath. The students have spoken. Now let's see how long it takes the administration to sit up and listen.