Some people like it, some don’t. But no one can deny itssignificance: It’s Measure 1, and it’s SacramentoState’s most important ballot measure since 1999, when(snarky comments aside) students voted to give The State Hornet$2.50 a semester.

If the measure passes, President Alexander Gonzalez’smaster scheme to put 6000 J St. on the map will take off from thestation. We’ll get a $73 million Recreation/Wellness/EventsCenter, with an arena, a bowling center, movie theater and massageroom. Eventually, we’ll get new classrooms, a new landscapeand maybe even a space science center.

If the measure fails, students won’t have a new arena, butwe will have an extra couple hundred dollars each year. Gonzalezmay shorten his projected stay in Sacramento, seeing that thisstudent body will never change. We may get a new president, DonaldGerth Part II &- a worldly, intelligent, warm hermit with atremendous sense of apathy towards putting this university on themap.

It’s a battle of old-world ideologies. It would seem noone disagrees the RWEC would be good for the university, but itwould also seem no one disagrees that more fees hurtstudents’ ability to pay for school without incurring hellishdebt.

Then there’s the argument that this is a way to getstudents to throw money into the athletics department. Athleteswill think this is great. Others may not. It’s like sick,twisted farm subsidies &- the farmers love them but mostpeople don’t. Which side do most students fall on &-athletes or anti-athletes?

Ideologies aside, the measure affects the Associated Students,Inc. elections by its very nature. Putting such an important andcontroversial topic on the ballot raises awareness andprobabilities; this election should have the highest turnout inyears. There’s no way less than 10 percent of the studentpopulation takes a minute out to leave their mark on the campus.Turnout could reach 15 percent, though we can’t ignore theblatant apathy shown at this school before. If 20 percent turnedout, someone in the ASI office might pass out.

But despite the contention, neither side of the coin is raisingmuch awareness. We see the red “Joshua Wood forPresident” advertisements, we see Brandon Kline’s faceplastered on wood and we see fliers featuring Daniel Bennedetto andhis dog, Raider. But we don’t see signs promoting Measure 1,and we don’t see signs that read, “Stop JockWelfare,” which is a favorite phrase of RWEC oppositionleader Brandon Abell. We don’t see the passion.

Unless there is an sudden uprising of spirit, it will be thepassionate pro-arena crowd versus the passionate anti-arena crowdbattling at the election. Sure, you can throw in the passionateWood crowd, the passionate anti-Wood crowd and, of course, thedog-loving Bennedetto crowd. But the groups that matter will be theathletes and the fiercely anti-bond fiscal conservatives.

RWEC is a wedge issue, but the anti-RWEC crowd has no realcandidates. The apple slate is against the RWEC as it currentlystands &- “Good idea, bad timing” is theirbroken-record slogan. The Brandon Abells of Sac State don’tthink it’s a good idea ever. But where are the Brandon Abellson the ballot? Nowhere.

Brandon Kline’s banana slate, however, is pro-RWEC. Theslate has a candidate for every executive office and two of them&- basketball player Chris Lange and rower Matthew McPhail&- are athletes.

When the athletes show up at the polls &- and they will&- they will most likely vote for Kline. When the anti-RWECersshow up &- and they might – they won’t vote for Kline.But will they vote for pro-RWEC Julio Velazquez? Pseudo-anti-RWECerJoshua Wood? Raider?

A Wood brother has never lost an ASI election &-they’re four for four. But Luke Wood has alienated a lot oflikely voters (read: ASI folks, their closest friends and theirharshest critics) throughout his career; this year, Joshua hasidentified himself dangerously closely to his loose cannon brother.And though Luke doesn’t face much credible opposition thisyear, Josh does: Velazquez is the reigning executive vice president&- that’s second-in-command among all students. Kline iswell-respected (he held executive office in the California StateStudent Association, the CSU’s student lobbying arm, as asophomore) and has the athletes on his side. Daniel Bennedetto hasa dog, and studies show that people love dogs. Josh Wood has a hugechallenge ahead.

The RWEC will play a role &- there’s no questionabout that. But will it play enough of a role to sway thepresidential election?

Well, that’s up to the Brandon Abells of the university.That is, unless you want to pay for that $73 million arena.