The University Student Union’s Board of Directors at California State University, Stanislaus is pushing to make both imminent and future changes to the Carol Burke Student Lounge.
USU’s Vice Chairman of Operations, Jeff Vigil, said that planned renovations aimed at providing a more cutting-edge and cozy setting for students will soon be underway.
“It looks more like a hospital lounge right now, and students complain about being uncomfortable in there,” Vigil said. “We’ll be putting in better furniture to make it a lot more inviting for students to hang out in and study, and it will be better to hold events in too.”
According to Vigil, the immediate changes to the lounge will include new furnishings such as bean bags, cushier chairs and more study-friendly tables to replace the outdated ones. 
In addition, strips of outlets will be placed in one or possibly two areas in the lounge to provide students with more places to plug in their laptops. Vigil added that there will also be fewer televisions, as the sets currently in place don’t seem to be used much.
Vigil said USU’s goal is to have the renovations intact before the start of summer and assured that the new changes will definitely be available by the next academic year for students to take advantage of. 
In the future, USU plans to further renovate the lounge by knocking out its wall that faces the Quad and then replacing it with a large garage door. This will enable anyone hosting events in the lounge to have access to the campus. 
“If it’s a nice day outside, they can open up the garage door to enjoy it,” Vigil said. 
Vigil stated that the costs of all renovations will not be known until Facilities Services gives USU a price for the new materials, but that the cost will not affect any student fees. 
Students have expressed mixed feelings towards the future alterations. 
“I really dig the bean bag idea. Anything to get the comfort level up would be great and would help me concentrate on studying better,” said Pete Dicochea (senior, Business). 
“I think the outlet strips are a good idea, and removing the TVs is also great, but the bean bags will probably get food and soda and coffee spilled all over them, and it will be a big, sticky mess,” Sam Felice (sophomore, Criminal Justice) said. “It kind of sounds like they’re not even quite sure what to do with the space.”