DAILY 49ER California State University, Long Beach
Vol. LIX, Issue 820
www.daily49er.com
Thursday, February 19, 2015
USU REFERENDUM APPROACHES Depending on the vote results, the USU fee could nearly double. By Manny Frausto and Amy Patton Staff Writers
A giant orange banner that reads, “400 student orgs, 30 cubicles; do the math,” hangs above the University Student Union entrance near Friendship Walk. In order to publicize the upcoming USU Referendum, Associated Students
Inc. spent $20, 000 of the $20,700 available in the advertising budget designated for the USU, ASI communication manager Lindsay San Miguel said via email. San Miguel said the funds covered the cost of creating a website, producing videos and printing fliers, brochures, t-shirts and banners in order to remind students to vote. USU and ASI staff members wear light-blue referendum t-shirts around campus regularly. “I hope [ASI] had other things like forms and talking about it before class or during class,” University President Jane Close-Conoley said with regard to ASI’s promotion of the vote. “At the
end of the day, I don’t care very much which way it goes. I just would love it if there were 30,000 students who voted, then you’d know what students think.” If the referendum does not pass at the end of February, a renovation of the USU could still be expected, said David Pantoja, the facilities maintenance supervisor for the USU and the Student Recreation and Wellness Center. “…[The] funding’s got to come from else where…” Pantoja said. “Which means… it’s got to come from somewhere. So existing fees [and] existing programs would probably end up being hurt because of that.” Replacing HVAC air conditioning, plumbing and electrical and mechan-
ical issues would be priorities of any renovation that would occur if the fee increase does not pass, Pantoja said. Dave Edwards, the ASI associate director and the director of the USU and SRWC, said that the $165 fee increase, if it passes, would last for 30 years in order to entirely fund the renovation. “[The] fee thing is always an issue, and the student leaders have been very conscious of that,” Edwards said. ASI Vice President Nayiri Baghdassarian said that if students vote to increase the USU fee, areas of
See REFERENDUM, page 5
The passing of the USU referendum would approve a five-year, $99 million renovation of the University Student Union, requiring the USU fee to nearly double upon the completion of the project, which is anticipated to occur in 2020.
DAILY 49ER The decision to increase the PRESENTS: USU fee is not ours to make USU Referendum OPINION
panel discussion
We shouldn’t be setting the financial state of students to come.
O
n Feb. 25 and 26, the student body will have the chance to vote on a referendum to increase student fees in order to fund renovations to the University Student Union building. ASI has spent a large amount of resources to fund high-tech videos, numerous displays and tables outfitted with “complimentary” cups and stationary sets – all so that you will vote to approve an increase of the USU fee, which would result in a total fee of $344 per semester. They may have told you that since the rise in fees would not go into effect until the project is completed in 2020, none of the current students at California State University, Long Beach would be impacted by the
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LOCATED IN: LECTURE HALL 150 THURSDAY, FEB. 19, 3:30 P.M.
Maria Lopez Contributing Writer
increase. This raises an as-of-yet unaddressed question: why are we the ones voting on the fee increase? The core principle of the democratic process is that, before an institution enacts a policy, it must derive its power to act from the consent of those who are affected by it. The Associated Student Inc. should be no different. However, in the case of the present USU referendum the USU Board of Trustees has failed to ensure a voting process that is just. Given that the students who would be most impacted by the vote are currently in grades 8 through 12, ASI’s promise to ensure that students are involved in the USU renovations is utterly meaningless. How can the
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students who would be impacted by the fees participate in the process if they have not even graduated from high school yet? Though I am opposed to additional increases in student fees on top of those that have already been added, if we were to approve an increase, it would only be reasonable for us to make the decision for ourselves. It is unethical to decide for those presently uninformed and voiceless future 49ers. If we decide that these renovations are necessary enough to justify a fee increase, it would make sense to impose the burden on ourselves. This way, we could at least pursue the renovations
Panelists will include: ASI Vice President Nayiri Baghdassarian USU Board of Trustees chair Vanessa Mendoza Two student representatives from SQE ....and more!
See VOTE NO, page 3
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Students will have the opportunity to ask questions regarding the upcoming referendum. The USU referendum vote will take place via email on Feb. 25-26.
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