Costs keep climbing for Sacramento State students. Another fee increase is a semester away–projected at 10 percent for undergrads and a jaw-dropping 40 percent for graduate students. Textbooks are still ridiculously expensive, and bookstore buybacks don’t recover more than a couple fast-food pit stops. Gas prices may rise well above $2 per gallon in another financial setback for students at a “commuter school.”

But while many of us are contemplating how to pay for our $108 parking permit, the third floor of the University Union is buzzing with a massive relief plan.

Associated Students, Inc. President Peter Ucovich and company are fighting for you–the student. They are taking on the administration in a battle of epic proportions.

They want to change the name of a building.

In early December, Ucovich saw his resolution recommending a renaming of the Union to the University-Student Union” pass the ASI Board of Directors. Now the real debate begins.

Leslie Davis, director of the University Union, said the Union’s own board of directors will discuss the matter at their meeting, tentatively scheduled for late February. The Union board would have to approve the name change for it to happen. Ucovich will formally present his idea at that meeting.

“The discussion is the important thing,” Davis said. “Is it the right thing to do?”

We’re all asking ourselves that, Leslie.

Some in university administration say the answer is no, citing that the Union plays host to outside parties, whom pay their own usage fees.

Ucovich argues that it is the right thing to do, pointing out that the mandatory $71 Union fee every student pays every semester makes up 70 percent of the Union’s revenue.

But perhaps Ucovich’s altruism overlooks the real question at hand: Does it matter?

Let’s weigh the costs and benefits here. The cost of the renaming was originally estimated at $100,000. That figure will likely change as discussions continue about the magnitude of the proposition.

“Every sign around campus, every banner, every shirt, every brochure, every envelope, every piece of letterhead – it would all have to be changed,” Davis said.

Ucovich says that Sac State is the only CSU without a donor’s name or the word “student” attached to its union building.

“We’re the oddball of the CSU,” Ucovich said.

It’s hard to believe Sac State students will perceive the benefits of shaking their union’s status as the Quasimodo of the CSU. They’re far more likely to remember that every good leader needs a legacy; something tangible associated with the person who made it happen. Renaming the Union would give Peter Ucovich his legacy.

But why this? Why the name of the Union? Shouldn’t the legacy of the president be more tied in with the stated goals of the president and his organization?

This year, ASI has cited improving student retention, participation and ASI’s visibility on campus its primary goals. But unless we’re changing the name to “The University-Student Union, brought to you by ASI President Peter Ucovich,” we’re not helping meet any of those goals.

Ucovich could suggest that the $100,000 be used in one of several ways more constructive and beneficial to students. Suggest that the Union invite a discount tax preparation service to set up shop each spring. With all of the confusing jargon to jumble between classes, a cheaper version of H&R Block on campus could save busy students thinly spread time and money.

Ucovich could also suggest pay raises for the Union’s student employees: Infuse money back into student pockets by increasing wages for the guys who clean up the ASI offices at 6 a.m.

If nothing else, the Union could possibly lower its semester fee by $3.50 per student. At least that’s four classes worth of blue books and a couple of trips to the copy machine. Or maybe even 2 gallons of gas, if we’re lucky.

But perhaps the best suggestion of all is to not waste valuable time on unimportant and trivial matters. The university’s resources are tight enough as they are.