The A.S. meeting was crowded again with student athletes supporting the athletics fee referendum, introduced at the previous meeting.

Earl Warren College sophomore Arundathi Gururajan confidently stated her opinion that the referendum, which would increase the quarterly fee students pay to support athletics, should be split into separate parts. The proposal irked the sea of disgruntled athletes at the meeting, many of whom were already upset by the amount of time the council was taking to put the initiative on the ballot.

The split this week proposed that the first question include a $12.34 quarterly increase for each student to support student athlete grants-in-aid and the annual budget shortfall. The second question was to add $65.05 per student quarterly to support “”the growing needs of intercollegiate athletics and campus recreation sports program.””

“”It is not the students’ responsibility to shoulder something the administration should be supporting,”” Gururajan said.

Recently impeached former John Muir College Junior Senator Aida Kuzucan also supported the split.

“”There is a population of students, like me, who are rich on paper and poor in the pocket,”” Kuzucan said.

A.S. President Harry Khanna supported splitting the fee referendum.

“”You need at least 4,000 students to vote,”” said Khanna. “”I know you will get the majority, but you won’t get the voter turnout. If this question is one, there are students who will engage in a ‘don’t vote’ campaign and that will kill the initiative.””

John Muir College Sophomore Senator Meghan Clair stood against the split, comparing it to a table with two legs. “”Students would be buying a crappy table,”” she said.

Another councilmember stated that if students opted to buy a “”crappy table,”” they were within their full rights to do so. “”Who wants to buy a crappy table?”” said Revelle College Senior Senator Ellen Almirol.

The proposition to split the referendum failed 7-15-0 and the motion to place it on the winter-quarter ballot passed, four hours after the meeting began.

After a special presentation, the next agenda item – election of the speaker – inundated the council with bureaucratic motions.

The first was to make the current item old business, which passed and was immediately followed by a motion to reconsider the order of the agenda, which also passed.

After a point of privilege by Vice President Internal Janine Dellomes on proper councilmember etiquette, a motion to suspend bylaws to allow debate passed, at which point another councilmember motioned to elect the speaker. The motion to continue directly to the athletic fee referendum failed, allowing the council to elect Earl Warren College Senior Senator Michelle Yetter as speaker of the council, who in turn abdicated her position for the night to former speaker Dellomes, to allow her to introduce an amendment to split the fee referendum.