Following more than two months of campaigning, Dec. 7 marked
closure for proponents of the Warren College Activity Fee Referendum, which met
the required participation threshold and was approved by 74.2 percent of voters.
Approximately 21.2 percent of
special election, 656 of whom voted to increase the fee by $3 a quarter. The
referendum will allocate $26,199 to Warren College Student Council programming
and student groups, including the Warren Live! concert and the Warren Transfer
Commuter Commission.
“I had no doubt that it was going to get more yeses than
noes,” said WCSC Parliamentarian Dan Palay, who initially proposed the fee
referendum. “It was always the 20-percent mark that was hard to gauge. It was
just one of those things that you have to push until the end.”
Palay said that although the 21-percent turnout may appear
disappointing, in actuality it is a strong showing for UCSD students.
“It’s always disheartening to see how low the voter turnout
is, but that’s only in the grand scheme of things,” he said. “At the same time,
21 percent is a relatively high turnout of voters considering only 17 percent
voted in the past council election. It’s a double-edged sword.”
WCSC Elections Manager Aaron Horning said he was not
particularly worried about surpassing the 20-percent participation barrier.
“I was pretty confident that we would be able to meet it,”
he said.
The most difficult part of running the election was ensuring
that the council followed all of the college’s rules and bylaws, according to
WCSC President Jessica Fernandez.
“I was relieved overall that the week was over, because we
had to make sure we were doing everything just right according to the rules,”
Fernandez said. “I’m just really happy about the way it was run.”
Horning said he modified the pro and con statements before
placing them on the ballot in order to make them more sensible. Initially, the
drafted “con” statement was only eight words long.
“It wasn’t to make them equal, it was to convey the truth of
both sides,” Horning said.
The ballots were offered at voting polls run by volunteers,
who kept the polls open until the final ballot was cast on Dec. 7 despite cold
and rainy weather. Horning counted the votes and then collaborated with
Fernandez to send certified election results to the Warren dean.
“We’re kind of in a
holding pattern now, since it has to go through the university,” Palay said.
Now that Warren students have greenlighted the referendum,
it will pass through the Student Affairs department, which includes Vice
Chancellor of Student Affairs Penny Rue and Chancellor Marye Anne Fox, before
ending up on the desk of UC President Robert C. Dynes. If approved, the fee
hike will take effect in Spring Quarter.
With the promise of more funds, WCSC officials are planning
a revamp of the college’s student life.
“I think it will certainly give programming boards more
freedom to put on bigger and better events, which will affect
