Associated Student Government’s Judicial Board deemed invalid a proposed referendum to gauge student opinion on both a Student Activities Fee increase and a decision by administrators to fill in part of the Lagoon.
Four justices voted against the proposal because of a stipulation in the ASG Constitution stating that a referendum on the same topic cannot be held within four years of the last vote, as the results still are binding. An April 1999 referendum asked students if they supported increasing the quarterly Student Activities Fee from $22 to $40.
One justice voted to hold a new referendum and one abstained.
“We thought that the referendum that was presented was not substantially different from the referendum held in 1999,” said Aaron Winters, a Weinberg junior and the board’s chief justice. “The constitution is rather explicit in that you can’t hold a similar referendum within four years. We didn’t find that their arguments were convincing enough to warrant a new referendum.”
But Speaker of the Senate Bassel Korkor said ASG wouldn’t be able to determine if this year’s group of students supported a fee increase without a referendum.
“What I wanted was an opportunity for the students to voice their opinions on it – for the student body, our boss, to tell us what to do,” said Korkor, a Weinberg junior who proposed the referendum. “I’m not talking about the student body that was here four years ago, I’m talking about today’s student body.”
This year’s referendum would have included two more options compared with the 1999 proposal: decreasing the fee or increasing it to an amount between $33 and $40.
“The increase that they were asking for (in 1999) was from $22 to $40, a huge increase, almost double,” Korkor said. “The increase we were asking for a referendum on is substantially different, it’s only $7.”
The one justice to vote for a new referendum, Brian Yeado, said ASG’s Constitution did not need to be interpreted so strictly.
“The ASG Constitution exists to provide effective governance and redress student concerns,” said Yeado, a Medill sophomore, in a dissenting opinion. “To stretch the ASG Constitution in this instance, to allow for a referendum that is necessary business of the Senate, will not matter one whit.”
A Senate resolution in favor of increasing the fee failed to garner the two-thirds majority vote at last week’s meeting, leading some members to discuss the need for a referendum.
Bisexual, Gay and Lesbian Alliance Sen. Jason Warren said during the debate in Senate that polling students again is necessary because the 1999 referendum was misleading.
“The students have an opinion on this issue and the ASG Judicial Board’s decision has silenced that voice,” Warren, a Speech sophomore, said.
Korkor and Warren will meet with the Judicial Board Monday night to discuss the decision and might appeal it, Korkor said.
In addition, three senators said they will propose an ASG Constitutional amendment to make referendums valid for two years instead of four. Chapin Hall Sen. Ben Cherry, Off-Campus Sen. Rachel Lopez and Students for Ecological and Environmental Development Sen. Matt McCormick said the debate on the referendum showed them the problems with the ASG Constitution.
“When bureaucracy comes to a point where it’s blocking the thing that most students want, then it’s time to change that,” said Lopez, a Weinberg junior. “I’m sure that the Judicial Board just felt bound by the constitutional rules.”
The proposed Constitutional amendment also would provide an escape clause, allowing ASG to hold more than one referendum per quarter if a serious issue warranted one, McCormick, a Weinberg sophomore, said.
“It would only be in a case like right now, when we have two important issues that need to be addressed,” McCormick said.
Lopez said she will propose a separate referendum of the Lagoon construction plan.
“The administration will not be able to ignore it, because it will be legitimate,” Lopez said. “If students are against it, (administrators) will have to recognize it.”
