The annual Muirstock festival may be noticeably scaled back next year after a John Muir College student fee referendum on the 2009 Associated Students election ballot failed to gain approval, leaving the council short on funds.
Designed to provide the Muir College Council with funding to support Muir’s student organizations and various tradition events ‘mdash; including Muirstock and Muir Musical ‘mdash; the referendum would have raised the Muir College Activity Fee to $10 from the existing $7.
The increase was rejected by a margin of 89 votes.
Over the last several years, the A.S. Council has gradually cut funding for college councils, leaving them to seek out alternative sources of cash.
The Sixth College Council ran an activity fee referendum in the recent election that passed successfully. Last year, Earl Warren College students also voted to approve a similar’ referendum.
Muir College Council Vice Chair Abbas Hussain said the additional fees would have been key in facilitating the enhancement of annual programs and events put on by Muir’s many student organizations.
‘We named it the Giving Fee because it was a fee students were paying to give back to themselves in the form of a better college experience,’ Hussain said.
According to Muir College councilmembers, the college’s annual events may have to be scaled back next year, and student organizations will likely see an across-the-board cut in funding. Councilmembers said fewer bands may appear at next year’s Muirstock festival to compensate for the lack of funds.
This year, councilmembers were forced to draw $10,500 from their reserve fund of $18,485 to support the cost of Muirstock. The festival typically costs the council upwards of $20,000.
‘If the referendum passed, then MCC could have used that additional money to support Muir organizations instead of tapping into our reserve,’ Muir College Council Environmental Advocate Martin Kwok said.
Muir College Dean of Student Affairs Patricia Mahaffey said the council will not have as much discretionary money to support student organizations next year.
Muir College freshman Joe Hua said he saw no need for a fee increase.
‘I didn’t know how I or my peers would benefit from paying more tuition than we already do,’ he said. ‘It seems like we are already paying a lot for activities, and if Muir is able to put on activities now, I didn’t see how the fee increase would prevent them from happening in the future.’
But Muir College freshman Monica Chen said she saw the referendum as a way to enhance Muir activities.
‘The Giving Fee seemed like a great way to help out the different clubs and organizations in Muir,’ she said. ‘They’ve always put on fun events like Muirstock and Muir Musical, and I figured, ‘Why not pay a little more to make them even more eventful?”
MCC freshman representative Frank Chang said he would support another referendum in the upcoming Fall Quarter, an option that the council is considering. However, this would require a special election, which would cost the council around $3,000.
Next year’s newly elected MCC members will convene next week to discuss their operating budget for the 2009-10 academic year. They plan to review the expenses of student organizations for the following school year with the Muir Funding Advisory Board, and based on their financial needs, will decide whether to run another referendum.
At a recent meeting, the council addressed the need to downscale on big-ticket events such as Muirstock, Muir Musical and Burnout,’ but decided that it will do everything it can to not abandon these events altogether. ‘I feel that over the past few years, organizations have not been getting the funding they have asked for, and due to this, we have seen students use a lot of creativity and ingenuity to make events happen and be successful,’ Hussain said. ‘But at the end of the day this can only go so far, and it will be noticed next year.’
Readers can contact Nadin Faidi at [email protected].