The stress and tension of last week’s special election came to an end Feb. 2 with the announcement of the record-breaking passage of the athletics fee referendum that boasted the highest voter turnout in the student government’s history.
Triton athletes and referendum supporters celebrate the passage of the undergraduate athletics fee referendum, which was announced at Round Table Pizza on Feb. 2.
Students passed the $78 intercollegiate athletics fee increase 4,991 to 3,948, with approximately 9,000 student voters amounting to a striking 41.9-percent turnout on a campus historically plagued by student apathy.
The election was a success, according to A.S. Special Elections Manager Erik Rodriguez-Palacios, because of the turnout, which doubled the 20-percent threshold for referendum approval.
The unexpectedly high number of voters is an example of the rallying effect athletics can have to get students excited, according to Director of Athletics Earl W. Edwards.
Athletes, students and staff members gathered in Round Table Pizza on Feb. 2, anxiously awaiting the announcement of the results of the undergraduate athletics fee referendum.
“”To have 9,000 students voting shows that athletics can galvanize this campus,”” Edwards said.
But the fact that a majority of students – 56 percent – were in favor of increasing their own fees to support the athletics department makes an even stronger statement, said Triton Athletes Council Chair Dan Noel.
“”People care,”” he said. “”UCSD students said, ‘We care.’ They made the statement that they believe in the athletics program.””
The surprising turnout can be attributed to a larger A.S. elections budget, the divisive nature of the referendum topic and the persistent pro-referendum campaign headed by TAC, Rodriguez-Palacios said.
Six unofficial polling sites were strategically placed in high-traffic campus locations, such as RIMAC lobby, Price Center and Center Hall, to make voting easy and convenient for passersby, according to Noel. Athletes were also encouraged to bring their own personal laptops to school all week to facilitate student voting. The goal was to advocate support for the referendum while being accessible to all voters, Noel said.
Accessibility was one topic of dispute, however, according to Thurgood Marshall College Junior Senator Kyle Samia, who attributed a large portion of the turnout to “”harassment”” by athletes.
One potential roadblock for the “”pro”” campaign arose on Jan. 31 when Samia filed a formal grievance, with Rodriguez-Palacios alleging that student-athletes violated election rules that prohibit campaigning too closely to official polling sites and misused equipment funded by the A.S. Council. After a late-night grievance hearing, the elections committee decided to restrict supporters of the referendum to strictly “”neutral campaigning”” for the remainder of the week and to charge them $60 for equipment reimbursement.
In addition to bylaw violations, there were reports of harassment, according to Samia, which exhibited unfairness although harassment did not officially violate election rules, he said.
“”I still feel like you could have been against the referendum and supported athletics,”” he said. “”It wasn’t fair to say that people against this were anti-athletics or anti-UCSD. It wasn’t the most professional way to run a campaign.””
Although the large number of athletes recruited to campaign in support of the referendum proved to be a huge advantage, it was challenging to coordinate the transmission of information and the compliance with complicated election rules, Earl Warren College Junior Senator Daniel Palay said.
“”These are people who don’t know politics and just have passion,”” he said. “”They were fighting to save their place at this school.””
Despite the accusations of misconduct, the large number of dissenting votes showed that the athlete-run polling stations were equally approachable to all voters, Noel said.
“”The violation was blown way out of proportion,”” he said. “”The athletes took the higher road and really showed dignity and integrity.””
The referendum’s passage, which will go into effect fall 2008, will implement a $78 increase to the quarterly $31.80 ICA activity fee, boosting the fee to bolster the needs of UCSD’s broad-based athletic program. The election also resulted in the approval of $500 scholarships for each athlete in order to comply with an NCAA mandate requiring UCSD to provide at least $250,000 in athletic aid.
Despite previous attempts to fill budget holes, the $3.6 million windfall from the vote will be enough to provide the department with financial stability for the first time, according to Edwards, which will allow for strategic planning to become one of the best Division-II programs in the nation.
The new revenue will fund a wide variety of expenses previously compromised, including team operation, travel, equipment, staffing and insurance coverage, with nearly $1 million going toward salary equity for current coaching staff.
While the referendum will have an immediate effect on sustaining the 23-team program and retaining coaches for the long term, the largest impact lies in the program’s future, according to Noel.
“”I look at it as an investment,”” Noel said. “”Does this mean that our teams will perform drastically better this spring, next fall, next year? Not necessarily. But in the long run, this referendum can affect great change on our campus. Our students today can come back as alumni and proudly say, ‘Yeah, I was a part of that. I helped create that.'””
Readers can contact Serena Renner at [email protected].
