Voter-approved fee stalled by regents

By Benjamin Parke
Daily Bruin Contributor

The UC Board of Regents stripped a UCLA student referendum of a
provision that would send a portion of their fees to a national
student organization.

UC Deputy General Counsel Gary Morrison told the regents at
their Sept. 13-14 meeting that the United States Student
Association appeared to be the type of group to which UC students
should not be compelled to contribute.

A vote on the USSA portion of the proposal is expected to come
back to the board at a later time.

USSA is a student lobby organization based in Washington, D.C.
that focuses on issues like financial aid, campus safety and
retention of underrepresented students.

The allocation of student fees to organizations was an issue
that “has vexed us as a policy and legal matter for many
years,” Morrison said.

The referendum was passed in May’s undergraduate student
government elections to increase the amount of money given to USSA
and to the University of California Students Association ““
the systemwide student government and lobby group.

The regents approved the UCSA portion of the referendum,
increasing fees by 90 cents per quarter.

“This decision was not only based upon misinformation of
the mission and structure of USSA, but failed to consider the
rights of UCLA students who voted in an overwhelming majority in
favor of this referendum,” said USSA President Ali Fischer in
a letter to the regents.

The provision was removed because of fears of litigation from
dissenting students, Morrison said.

The legal implications of the referendum stem from the March
U.S. Supreme Court decision on University of Wisconsin v.
Southworth that confirmed public universities can collect student
fees as long as they are distributed on a content-neutral
basis.

As a matter of current policy, the university permits students
to assess mandatory fees upon themselves to fund organizations like
the University of California Student Association, the systemwide
student government.

Morrison said the national student group USSA appeared to
promote only one viewpoint, and therefore could not receive
compulsory student fees.

“My examination of its Web site suggested it was an
advocacy organization of the type that should be funded principally
through voluntary contributions,” Morrison told the regents
at the meeting.

But in her letter, Fischer criticized the university for not
investigating the matter fully.

“To date, no UCOP representative has contacted any UCLA
student about this matter, or shown them any policy or law that
would support the decision of the regents,” she wrote in the
letter.

Morrison requested the provision be pulled from the
regents’ agenda pending further discussion, including a
meeting of the vice chancellors of student affairs to be held a
week after the regents’ meeting.

Representatives from USSA who attended the regents meeting used
the public comment period to tell the regents they were setting a
dangerous precedent by dividing a student referendum.

They said the board should approve the 91-cent quarterly
assessment for USSA along with the rest of the referendum.

USSA Vice President Julia Beatty said the group works to improve
access to higher education, and over the past year has fought for
and won federal grants for campus child care.

“Just from getting information off of a Web site, you
really can’t get a sense of the history of an
organization,” said Beatty, who added that her group was
never contacted by Morrison.

USAC External Vice President Portia Pedro, who is UCLA’s
representative to UCSA, also said Morrison never made any inquiries
with UCLA student government, but that the government has been
talking to campus administrators on the matter.

There is a mechanism by which students can request to opt out of
paying fee assessments for any organization with which they
disagree, Pedro said.

Since the UC pays for its own lobbyists, students should be able
to do so as well, she said.

At the regents’ meeting, a few members of the board said
they wanted to make sure any organization receiving mandatory
student fees would be held accountable for the use of those
funds.

But Student Regent Justin Fong said that in general, such fees
are monitored and accounted for, and that the outcomes of student
elections should be respected by the Board.

“Do we enter into objecting to officers supported by
students?” Fong asked of the other regents.

UC General Counsel James Holst recommended President Atkinson
make a report to the Regents before further action on the
matter.

Meanwhile, a letter signed by the student body presidents of
several UC campuses will soon be sent to the regents urging them to
approve the provision.

USSA is urging the regents to approve the rest of the referendum
at their Nov. 15-16 meeting at UCLA.