Associated Students prepare for the fall

Referendum for CSSA denied; changes proposed for election campaigning

By Bradley Hart

The Collegian

The Associated Students Senate rejected a proposal by Social Sciences Senator Simon Haeder to hold a student referendum on payment of California State Student Association fees Thursday night.

The Senate previously voted to remove the fees from next year’s budget, although incoming Senators would have the ability to pay the fees in the future.

Haeder argued that since the CSSA fees of around $12,000 would be taken from student-paid AS dues it should be students that determine the money’s use.

“I think in the future we should be taking it [the payment of fees] out of the hands of the Senate,” he said. “We’re sending money away from the campus.”

During debate over the motion, several senators voiced concerns over the cost of the referendum and whether a decision to hold such an election would be binding on next semester’s new Senate.

Following discussion, the Senate voted to reject Haeder’s proposal by a four to six vote with two abstentions.

Also during the meeting, AS Election Commissioner Deborah Napoleon delivered her final report on the recent April vote, calling for major changes to the organization’s election code.

Among her proposed reforms, Napoleon called for the Election Commission to be expanded from five to seven members and for the Senate to draw up specific bylaws regulating Internet campaigning.

In addition, Napoleon proposed extending the official campaign time from two weeks to a month in hopes of increasing student turnout.

Possible AS presidential hopeful Ryan Caglia was disqualified in March for “formal campaigning” before the official two-week campaign period at the end of the month.

At the time, Napoleon said Caglia had posted statements indicating his intent to run for the office on several Web pages.

Comment on this story in the News forum >>