Granted Hornet Gym is over 50-years-old, and recreation is an essential part of a healthy and balanced life, but the Recreation Wellness Events Center should come in a distant second to more pressing academic priorities.

I am sure that most students would agree that a new indoor pool, track and arena might be nice. I am sure that most would agree that the RWEC will be appealing to both current and prospective students. But is it worth the projected $120 million, especially at a time when more and more costs continue to be passed on to students?

The new center will be a 230,000 square-foot facility with a large fitness center, a new student health center, an indoor track and swimming pool, and a large indoor arena. Funding for the project will be assisted by the $110 semester fee approved by the student body.

But for the last several semesters professors have tried to explain to students that budgets are very tight, making it hard for staff to provide all of the printed materials necessary for classes. These costs, including all of the paper used to print supplementary course materials, are passed on to students because departments lack the funding and end up costing students almost as much as the $110 RWEC fee.

Students are paying twice over for the costs that the Sac State budget can’t cover; and tuition continues to rise.

The CSU trustees recently voted to increase student tuition by an extra 8 percent, the sixth fee hike in five years. But even this tuition hike does not close the $1 billion deficit projected by the CSU’s 2006-07 budget.

In a recent student-only town hall meeting, President Alexander Gonzalez noted that many California State University presidents had argued against the recent tuition increases with little success. However, along with the 8 percent tuition increase, the CSU trustees also voted to give university presidents a 13.7 percent pay raise.

But Sacramento State, despite balancing its own tenuous budget situation, is still set on borrowing money to pay for a new recreation center? Can the state really afford to give university presidents a pay raise when students are being told that there isn’t enough money going to departments to pay for required course material?

Many would argue that the RWEC will have significant benefits for students and faculty, that it will positively affect campus life and the community, and that these reasons alone provide ample justification for the financial costs.

Supporters might even argue that the center will create job opportunities and lure future students to Sac State.

I would argue that it is not some state of the art recreation center that will positively affect campus life and the community, but rather a strong, well-funded academic environment ?” one fully capable of competing for the pool of students looking for that competitive intellectual edge.

It is not some recreation center that will lure future students to Sac State, but rather a healthy academic mindset ?” one that will positively affect enrollment and the reputation of the college as a respected institution of higher learning.

Contact Kyle Hardwick at [email protected]