This year’s A.S. Council elections ballot includes one referendum, which asks undergraduates to increase their quarterly student fees by $28.25 to support UCSD athletics.
The Guardian strongly supports this referendum and urges all voters to carefully evaluate the heavy costs that would be associated with its defeat.
Since UCSD joined Division II two years ago, our intercollegiate sports and club teams have been surviving solely on temporary funds that will be unavailable next year.
If the athletics fee referendum fails, sports team budgets will be cut in half, and UCSD athletics will inevitably suffer in both quality and quantity. Admittedly, $28.25 is a hefty increase of quarterly student fees. However, as UCSD attempts to establish itself as the next UC Berkeley or UCLA, financially supporting our athletics teams is undoubtedly an essential first step improving campus life.
