USAC approves fee referendum for Bruin Bash
By Kristen Taketa
April 3, 2013 1:47 a.m.
Undergraduate students will be asked to vote on an about $4 yearly fee increase to fund the Bruin Bash concert and the Enormous Activities Fair in the upcoming spring elections.
The Undergraduate Students Association Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to add the fee increase referendum to the May ballot.
If approved by student voters, the fee would raise about $80,000 in the next year to create a fund called the “Bruin Bash Concert and Enormous Activities Fair Fund”. The proposed fee increase is $1.33 per quarter – $1 would go toward the new fund and $0.33 would be returned back to undergraduate students through financial aid.
The annual Bruin Bash includes the Enormous Activities Fair, a Welcome Back Concert, a movie and a dance and lounge for students.
At the USAC meeting, councilmembers said extra money from the fee increase would help stabilize funding for Bruin Bash and make planning easier at a minimal additional cost to students.
The fee will pass if the referendum earns a majority vote and if there is a 20 percent voter turnout.
USAC also voted 7-6-0 Tuesday to reject a separate proposed referendum for a $10 quarterly fee increase. The fee would have raised money to fund several on-campus organizations and programs that address issues such as campus retention, campus climate and access to education.
Discussions between the students who proposed the referendum and some council members who opposed the referendum were heated during the meeting.
The council was evenly split 6-6-0 when the referendum came to a vote.
USAC President David Bocarsly gave the tiebreaking vote to turn down the referendum.
The council’s vote was met with dismay by the referendum’s proponents, who said they will try to garner the signatures they need to put the referendum on the ballot without having to go through USAC.
