By Plans of adding a tanning salon in University Student Union to replace the Music Listening Lounge have come to a halt after the potential tanning salon company withdrew its bid. A similar version but more modern version of the lounge is also set to return to the USU.
Other USU plans are making a designated theme for each floor. The first floor would have the recreation and entertainment programs, the second floor student services and retail, and the third floor administration offices and meeting rooms.
Such developments are part of the USU Board of Trustees’ development of a master plan to change the USU based on an Associated Students, Inc. student feedback survey sent out last spring.
According to Michelle Silva, trustee-at-large for the USU Board of Trustees, students responded to the survey by saying they wanted healthier food and more cultural food options. Those types of vendors were approached, but no parties have expressed interested yet. Silva also said the board is currently working on other request proposals, and is hoping businesses will see potential in the USU.
Of the survey, “Students’ No. 1 complaint was not being able to find certain things,” Silva said.
Other problems that students addressed were the perceived disorganized locations of each of the services and programs in the USU. Additionally, students felt there wasn’t enough color and that the furniture needed to be updated.
However, Michelle Meneses, a transfer student and international studies major, said she could not see why it is necessary to implement such renovations.
“I think plans to add luxuries to campus that add no educational value could be dangerously reflective of where the priorities of this school’s administration lie’… Getting a tan could be easily done anywhere in Southern California.”
Some students also said the USU needs some improvement, but not necessarily a tanning salon.
Ria Ledesma, a pre-nursing major, said she did not believe in tanning salons because they have been known to cause cancer.
“Other entertainment, like the bowling alley, would be a lot better than a tanning salon,” Ledesma said.
Silva said student participation is important in order to make the renovations successful and encouraged students to be an active part of the plan.
