Referendum for a cultural events fee to be on May ballot

The original version of this article contained an error and has been changed. See the bottom of the article for additional information.

Undergraduate students will vote in their upcoming student government election on a referendum that would increase student fees by $1.55 per quarter to fund student groups’ cultural and arts-related programs.

The Undergraduate Students Association Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to add the referendum, titled “Arts Restoring Community,” to the May ballot.

If students approve the referendum by a majority vote, it would provide about $40,000 every quarter to the USAC Cultural Affairs Commission to be used exclusively for cultural and arts-based programming on campus. The fee would not apply to summer quarters and in accordance with university policy, one-fourth of the fee would be returned back to students in the form of financial aid.

The proposed fee would be adjusted for inflation according to the Los Angeles County’s Consumer Price Index every academic year beginning in 2015.

The USAC CAC and the Social Awareness Network for Activism through Art, an organization that addresses social issues through artistic expression, drafted the referendum.

The groups decided to create the provision amid growing concerns about limited funds available to certain student groups, said Carlos Quintanilla, a third-year history and environmental sciences student and the finance director for Social Awareness Network for Activism through Art.

In the past year, the CAC has had to allocate less funds for student groups. The Cultural Programming Mini Fund, a source of funding in the CAC, allocates $15,000 a year to fund student groups on campus that promote cultural awareness or diversity.

The commission typically deposits an additional $4,000 to $5,000 each year into the fund, but because of other programming costs, the fund did not receive any additional surplus funding from the commission this year.

Having students pay a required amount each quarter could provide a more stable source of funding for student groups, said Quintanilla, also the executive director of student group outreach in the Internal Vice President’s office.

UCLA student groups received less funds this year because councilmembers had allocated $35,000 from student group funding to pay for their stipend increases.

Quintanilla said limited funding sources have prevented Social Awareness Network for Activism through Art from hosting arts-related events. The organization canceled fall concert series scheduled last year that was meant to celebrate student artists.

Some students also said they think providing adequate funding to student organizations that host cultural events can help foster a more inclusive campus environment.

“(An arts-based organization) is one of the few places students can find safety and find people they can identify with, grow with and be vulnerable with,” said Jessica Trumble, USAC cultural affairs commissioner.

The Social Awareness Network for Activism through Art hosts a poetry jam during fall quarter, the Vagina Monologues during winter quarter and a musical concert during spring quarter – events that pose financial difficulties for the organization.

For this year’s Music Jam, the organization is still about $4,000 short of the $12,000 required to pay for artist fees and the venue, among other costs, Quintanilla said. He added that the deficit exists even though it received allocations from CAC and the Campus Programs Committee.

“We always find a way, but it’s really hard just to stay up late and think about how much (funding) we can get,” said Cody Young, a fourth-year anthropology and Afro-American studies student and community project director for Social Awareness Network for Activism through Art.

Because of the commission’s mission to help organize cultural arts programs, the student groups involved in drafting the referendum decided to house the fund within the commission.

The CAC would then allocate the funds to different student groups under the guidance of a committee.

While the guidelines for distributing funding to student groups are still tentative, the committee would look to fund groups that fulfill the commission’s mission statement by creating events that can educate students about arts-related and cultural topics through entertainment, Trumble said.

Suzanna Tran, a producer for this year’s Vietnamese Student Union’s culture night, said that a more stable funding source could help alleviate concerns members have with trying to find enough money to produce cultural programs.

The third-year gender studies student said that additional funding could have helped to ease funding concerns for this year’s Vietnamese Culture Night.

Other students, however, said they did not like the idea of automatically paying a fee without knowing exactly where their money went.

Last year, several student groups tried to pass a $9.93 fee referendum that would have funded certain organizations related to community service, diversity, retention and college preparation. The fee was rejected by 52.1 percent of the vote.

USAC elections will run May 6-8.

Correction: The USAC CAC and the Social Awareness Network for Activism through Art brought forward the referendum.