Students entering the Blum Union this summer were greeted by an Student Government
Association-funded renovation to the Food Court, home to Quizno’s, and new television monitors in both the upstairs and downstairs lobbies. Both are an attempt to make the Union a more welcoming, popular place for students to gather on campus.
The Food Court project, which SGA began coordinating during the spring 2007 semester, was begun in June, and consists of the addition of dark wood flooring and restaurant-style booths in addition to dining tables.
The project is step two in the ongoing renovation which has already provided
students with gaming and billiards, along with carpeting in the area. Step three will include décor for the newly renovated space that will lend a more grill-and-barlook to the bland space to draw more students to the space.
A new name is also in order for the space to make it more recognizable to students. Those with ideas can contact a member of Student Senate, who will submit the idea for consideration.
Senate Chief-of-Staff Katy Schwartz, who was instrumental in getting the renovations implemented, said, “We’re really trying to make the Union a place where students want to eat, hang out, and even study. We want to increase traffic not only in the Food Court, but also in the Union as a whole. And we believe that we can do that by making the space a more familiar atmosphere.”
Another recent change to the Union are the LCD television monitors now located in the downstairs and upstairs lobbies.
But the televisions don’t play just regular programming. Missouri Western is now featured on The University Network, a nationwide service that advertises school organizations and events. The Center for Student Engagement sponsored the installation, and the units will eventually pay for themselves.
The CSE chose to air three commercials per week instead of the usual five and gets
reimbursed for the two remaining commercials, which air TUN footage instead.
Each repeating rotation requires seven minutes of your attention,and are intended by the CSE to further student engagement and make information more readily accessible to passersby.
Luke Herrington, Student Senate Vice President, said, “We have the TVs specifically as a new means to advertise club and organization events, and to get the word out about campus events.”
Among the variety of commercials that are aired are a calendar of events, one for organizations and campus-wide events, and one for Student Development use by offices and departments. To advertise on the new screens, organizations can contact the Center for Student Engagement. As the new school year begins, these are just some of the many improvements made by departments to make sure students are provided with the right information in an environment that will welcome them as a place to spend time.
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