Today will mark the second time students will be able to vote on food services in the SUB.
The ASUNM Senate ballot will have a student poll with choices for a pizza place in the SUB, along with a question on the importance of cost and quality for food services.
Before the SUB opened in July 2003, students were asked what types of restaurants they would like in the SUB, but not many people voted.
"That's been a big push in the Senate this year - to try and get more people out to vote," ASUNM President Kevin Stevenson said.
In October's Homecoming election, about 1,600 people voted compared with the 760 votes in the spring Senate election.
Eleven slots will be filled. Almost all the senators will serve one-year positions, with one senator serving one semester. There will be 11 polling locations on main campus and north campus.
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Justin Trujillo, UNM freshman, said he hasn't seen the fliers, postings or anything advertising the election, and he lives on campus.
He said an actual campaign should have happened, instead of chalkings and posters.
Although Stevenson said the votes will not be a true representation of students' wants for food services, it is merely the first step that will be followed by a series of discussions and focus groups about the SUB's food services.
"We're definitely making a push, because things that were tried here aren't working," Stevenson said. "(Those) need to be changed to something that is going to work."
A well-known pizza place such as Pizza Hut, Papa John's or Domino's could replace Bene Pizza and Pasta.
Zia Juice, which has not been as productive as hoped, could be replaced with an Asian restaurant.
"That's what we're really looking for, to make the SUB competitive enough where students want to stay on campus and eat," Stevenson said.
The lines for Sonic and Chic-Fil-A are usually longer than at other restaurants in the SUB during peak hours, suggesting students are drawn to brand names.
"I like to try new things no matter what, but the brand names are always dependable," senior Janine Hudson said.
She said she didn't realize she had a preference for brand names until she thought about it.
If Zia Juice were Keva Juice, she said she'd visit the place more often.
All restaurants inside the SUB, excluding Sonic, are contracted through Aramark.
The restaurants bring in about $4 million per year.
For revenue up to $2.3 million, the University receives a 5 percent commission for retail sales and catering. As revenues increase, the percentages increase.
Stevenson said the idea is that if the University is making more money, student fees are less likely to rise.
Students paid about $53 in fees to the SUB this semester, up from $37 last year.
Ideally, Stevenson said he'd like the food services to change as quickly as possible.
"But a lot of times UNM just doesn't move as fast as you'd like it to," he said.
