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The Rice Thresher
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by EMILY MEYER THRESHER STAFF
Gabriel Garcia, sponsor of the initiative and president of the Outdoors Club, presented the initiative to the Student Association Senate at its meeting Monday night. According to the proposal, the wall would be constructed using the entire $32,000. The proposal does not specify how additional costs such as staffing or insurance would be funded. To pass, the initiative must gain a two-thirds majority of the votes of at least 20 percent of the student population. If the initiative passes, its feasibility would then have to be considered by the Kinesiology Department, according to department head Lorraine McKaye. "We support the concept, [and] I think it would be a great addition to the program, but it truly needs to be explored further," she said. "We have not as a department explored the costs of building it, maintaining it, or the liability and safety issues. ... The main thing is that the risk management has to be explored." "Technically, the university would be liable if there was an accident while using it," Risk Manager Renee Block said. She said that individuals using the wall would have to be experienced climbers and would be made to sign some type of release form. McKaye said if the initiative passes, her department will probably set up a committee of representatives from various areas of the university, including students, in order to determine the feasibility of constructing the wall with the blanket tax funds. "It would take all of next year to consider it. It wouldn't be viable until '01-'02, if at all," she said. Asked about the timeline of construction, Garcia said, "I will do everything in my power to do it as fast as it can be done, and it's really up to the bureaucracy. I would want to start construction by the end of the semester." McKaye said that the wall's location is another issue. "It is something we could see as an attractive addition to our lifetime physical activity program, as well as the Outdoors Club, but we don't have space for it right now." She said that a racquetball or squash court would be the only place to build the wall, and that a survey of how those courts are used would be needed first. "We hope in the future that, given the need for additional space for recreational, academics and research, the administration will consider massive renovations to this facility," McKaye said. In the case of renovations to Autry Court, Garcia said, "the rock wall can be disassembled and rebuilt. ... I think [the cost] would be minimal compared to what the original cost is, but I don't know exactly." Garcia said the wall would benefit both students and the community. He said students would be able to participate in rock climbing competitions, and that the need for spotters could provide work-study opportunities. The community would benefit from being able to "climb at a small cost in respect to commercial walls," he said. Also, he said the Outdoors Club would be able to host outreach programs allowing underprivileged children to climb on the wall. SA Parliamentarian Greg Pfleger said he will introduce at the next SA Senate meeting an amendment defining the Kinesiology Department's time limit for using the blanket tax funds if the rock climbing wall initiative passes. The SA's Election Code was revised earlier this semester to clarify its rules against electronic campaigning after Garcia's alleged violation led to the initiative's disqualification during balloting for Homecoming Elections. University Court reinstated the initiative two days after the end of the Homecoming Elections, reversing the SA Election Committee's decision. The court ruled that the initiative had failed because it had received a "yes" vote on only 46 percent of the ballots collected by the time it was pulled from the election. - back -
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