Board to hold business meeting at IMU

The IU board of trustees will hold an abbreviated business meeting Friday in the Indiana Memorial Union.\nAt the top of the list of items to be approved is a new information science building for IU-Purdue University Indianapolis.\nThe proposed 95,000 square-foot building will feature a computing intensive environment, teleconferencing facilities and a 200-person auditorium. The building is expected to cost more than $42 million.\nAlso on the agenda are $2 million-a-piece energy savings projects for IU-Kokomo and IU-Southeast.\nThese projects will upgrade or replace wasteful electrical and water systems in older buildings on each campus.\nThough not up for approval, the board will also discuss updates to the current 10-year renovation plan for the Bloomington campus.\n"There are a lot of new projects to look over with the 10-year capital improvement plan," said Fred Eichhorn, president of the board of trustees.\nThese proposed projects include $8 million for the renovation of Franklin Hall, $28 million for the Main Library and $170 million for a new power plant, Eichhorn said.\nThe board is expected to vote on these initiatives at a future meeting.\nOutgoing IUSA president, senior Casey Cox, will address the board, as well. Cox will advise the board against adding an athletic fee to student tuition.\nThat idea was brought before the trustees last month as a way of alleviating the athletic department's annual $2 million deficit.\n"Our student commission to investigate athletics has met, and we have decided an athletic fee will not be in the best interests of the student body," Cox said. "Instead we are developing an incentive-based program based on points."\nCox will also recommend the board gauge student reaction regarding IUSA's proposed transportation fee, which would add an additional $30 to tuition if approved by the board of trustees later this year.\n"Students are concerned about the inequity existing between on and off-campus students," Cox said. "I urge the board to hear student testimony and review the past proposal for consideration this spring."\nFinally, while it is not on the agenda, there is a possibility IU President Adam Herbert will further comment on the mission differentiation e-mail he sent out earlier this week, which called for clearer mission statements from each of the University's seven campuses.\n"I don't know if he will, but I wouldn't be surprised if he does," IU Spokeswoman Jane Jankowski said.