The original version of this article contained an error and has been changed. See the bottom of the article for additional information.
There is one major difference between the two ballot measures proposing student fee increases in this year’s student government elections.
The Bruin Bash referendum would provide needed funds for a major campus event that all students can attend. In contrast, the need for the Bruin Diversity Initiative is questionable because it would allocate funds to many groups that serve only a narrow segment of the student body.
The Bruin Diversity Initiative proposes a $9.93 fee increase per quarter that would go to campus organizations that provide retention, access, community service and cultural programs.
To be sure, several of the organizations that would be allocated money under the initiative, such as the Campus Retention Committee, are worthwhile programs that work toward increasing accessibility to important resources on campus.
However, there are line-items included in the initiative that demonstrate only a weak connection to diversity-related issues – for example, the Greek Life Programming Fund and the Undergraduate Students Association Council Contingency Programming Fund are not specifically focused on promoting diversity.
There are also plenty of student-run organizations on campus with similar goals that are not included in the initiative, such as UCLA UniCamp.
The authors of the initiative made little attempt to take a comprehensive survey of which student groups on campus are truly in need of more funds. For instance, Cynthia Jasso, the USAC Finance Committee chair who manages the USAC Contingency Programming Fund, was not approached by leaders of the initiative before the fund was included in the measure.
The lack of outreach and communication during the drafting process makes it difficult for this board to have faith in the Bruin Diversity Initiative.
Further, many of the offices in the initiative already benefit from the PLEDGE referendum, a student fee increase of $12.75 per quarter instituted just four years ago. It is difficult to justify an approximately 6 percent increase in campus-based student fees so shortly after.
The Bruin Bash referendum, which proposes a $1.33 per quarter fee increase, seeks to provide funding for an event that benefits a large portion of the student population and has been afflicted by unstable funding. The event’s funding has been unstable because it comes from the council’s surplus funds, which fluctuate from year to year.
Creating a fund for Bruin Bash at a small cost for students will also result in more stable funding for student group programming by freeing up surplus funds – another plus.
In contrast, the Bruin Diversity Initiative benefits a narrow subset of students, and there is no clear reason behind its fee increase.
Correction: If passed, the Bruin Diversity Initiative would increase campus-based student fees by about 6 percent.
Seriously, its getting ridiculous that a majority of the minority groups on campus feel it is appropriate to raise fees for everyone so that they get their money.
not everyone can go to bruin bash and its once year. I don’t think it fair to say equally. However everyone has access to services provided by the Diversity Initiative all year round its just a matter of if students use those services or not.
Bruin Bash does include the concert, dance, lounge, movie, and enormous activities fair. So maybe not everyone; but pretty much everyone.
good point! didn’t think about it like that. but I still think dollar for dollar the Bruin Diversity Initiative is more valuable than the Bruin Bash Referendum.