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The Metropolitan State College of Denver student newspaper, serving the Auraria Campus since 1979
Volume 1~ mue 14
Denver, Colorado
November 22, 1991
Referendums not binding Student votes are only recommendations, student government staff assistant says
Back to the future
Suzanne Hardy The Metropolitan
S. Elliott Fey /The Metropobl
St. Cajetan's is being restored to its original appearance after a six-year wait for funding. Recent bad weather has delayed construction. See story on page 3.
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Do MSCD students' votes really count when they are cast in a referendum? In MSCD referendums, students are only a recommending body, said Angie Binder, student government staff assistant. Although the student government constitution states that a majority of students must approve a measure for it to become law, "everything has to be approved by someone higher than us anyway," Binder said. "We like to think we're in charge, but we 're just a recommending body," she said. All three schools on the Auraria Campus have different methods for approving items brought to referendum, but imposing new student fees is ultimately decided by other boards and committees at all three schools. The recent University of Colorado at Deriver referendum asking students for an additional $35 a semester to take over the Tivoli is one example. Had the students voted for the takeover, the University of Colorado Board of Regents would have still had to approve the measure. Sometimes referendums are held only to measure student opinion, sai~ .Michael Simmons, director of UCD Studenl\l.ife. "Very few things are consider~nding in an individual school' s referendum," Simmons said. The UCO-Tivoli referendum was a "barometer" of student support, Simmons said. Even if students had approved the fee, the Regents would have made the final decision, Simmons said. In campuswide issues, however, the
majority of students usually must approve new fees before they can be assessed, said Emerson Holliday, division director of Auraria Student Services. The only time - campuswide - when students wouldn't be consulted would be if the Auraria Higher Education Center could not pay off a lender, Holliday said. Then, the Auraria Board of Directors could raise student bond fees without student consent. Student bond fees pay for facilities. When students voted in a campuswide referendum last spring to pay $3 to turn the Tivoli into the new Student Union, their votes determined the outcome, Holliday said. "If students had said 'No, we don't want to increase our fees,' the Tivoli would not have happened," Holliday said. In February, a campuswide referendum is planned to ask students to help fund construction for an addition to the Auraria Child Care Center. Unlike the UCD-Tivoli referendum, which was organized quickly, the child-care referendum will have gone through all the necessary channels before students vote on it, said Chip Wiman, MSCD student government president. The channels include approval from the Auraria Board of Directors and the Auraria Executive Committee. If the child-care referendum passes, it will "basically become law," Wiman said. Even in an individual school issue, student government and students can let administrators know how they feel before a referendum is ever held. "If anyone adds a fee or increases my tuition, they 'd better be knocking on my door and include us in the process," Wiman said. Cl
Debate and forensics team strong at tournaments路 L.M. Pollock The Metropolitan
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Some of the best minds - and mouths - can be found right here at MSCD. Yes, mouths. MSCD bas one of the strongest debate and forensics teams in th~ state. At the nationally known tournament held
at Colorado College Oct. 26 and 27, the novice debate team took ninth place out of 43 teams in the open divisions. This semester, the team competed in two tournaments and was successful at each. The first was the Top of the Rockies Forensics Tournament held in Laramie, Wyo., Oct. 5 and 6. M~CD finished third out of 20 teams. The second tournament was held Oct. 11 to 13 in Casper, Wyo. MSCD beat out 25 schools and took iop awards in the novice debate category. Individual speaker Kari Vas by took
second place for overall speaker and placed fifth out of 84 people in Impromptu speaking. Vasby could soon qualify for national tournaments with two more strong showings. Other strong competitors to watch for are Dawn Jacobs and Nick DePaulo. MSCD Forensics Coach Mary Ryan has been involved in speech and debate for 14 years, coaching both the University of Colorado at Boulder and Colorado State University see Debate page 4
News
Features
Sports
Clubs may face a tougher time in getting funds
Diversities Issue: Food for thought in time for Thanksgiving!
Basketball's back: MSCD, CAC previews
Page3
Pages 23 - 25