Online voting to begin for proposed fee increase

Starting at midnight tonight, undergraduates can vote online on
whether they want to increase the fee they pay to their student
government.

Voting for the Undergraduate Students Association
Council’s proposed fee referendum will occur for 48 straight
hours on the MyUCLA Web site beginning on Wednesday at 12 a.m. It
will run all day until the end of Thursday, when the clock strikes
midnight Friday morning.

At stake is a raise of $9.25 on top of the existing $24.09
quarterly fee USAC collects from undergraduates.

If the referendum passes, it could raise an estimated $210,000
for the council offices and student groups affiliated with USAC,
along with all other groups registered with the Center for Student
Programming.

Three dollars of the proposed $9.25 increase would go toward
USAC offices and their sponsored groups, and another dollar would
be added to a general programming fund from which all student
groups can apply for funding.

The rest would be distributed among the campus events, community
service, cultural affairs, external vice president and student
welfare offices, along with the community activities committee.

USAC has hit hard financial times this year, when increased
overhead costs contributed to a $30,000 cut in its student
programming funds, bringing that total to roughly $98,000.

Some of the offices slated to receive an exclusive allocation
from the fee increase said more funds are needed for student
programming to remain at its current levels.

Campus Events Commissioner Ryan Wilson pointed out that his
office, which puts on events like $2 movies in Ackerman Grand
Ballroom, has not received a budget increase since 1985.

Other councilmembers, such as Academic Affairs Commissioner
Chris Diaz, said the referendum is too inflexible in its current
version because campus groups would have to reapply for the
additional funds while certain council offices will not necessarily
have to do the same.

A similar referendum was put up to vote in the spring, but
failed to meet the minimum 10 percent voter turnout required for it
to become campus policy.

To view the referendum language and vote, log on to
http://my.ucla.edu on Wednesday beginning at 12 a.m.

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