Students pass green referendum
Senate approves survey's results despite concerns over legitimacy
McLean Bennett
Issue date: 12/4/08 Section: News
Students approved a referendum last month that sought to increase student fees by $10 per semester to fund a university green initiatives account.
About 60 percent of voters approved the measure, with 40 percent opposed. More than 2,600 students participated in the referendum, marking one of the best voter turnouts in Student Senate history, Senate adviser Jodi Thesing-Ritter said.
"I've been at UW-Eau Claire for 15 years," Thesing-Ritter said after the meeting, "and at no time in that 15 years has a quarter of the population voted for anything."
The results of the survey were made available to The Spectator Monday, Nov. 24, following internal debates in Student Senate regarding the legitimacy of the online survey, which was snared by e-mail problems.
After debating the referendum's legitimacy and discussing the possibility of a re-vote on the referendum, Senate voted 20-5 to approve the current results and move forward with the measure.
The referendum was tripped up by what Thesing-Ritter called a "human error" that prevented certain students from being able to respond to the referendum on Thursday, Nov. 20. The problem caused Senate to re-send the referendum to students again on Friday.
Thesing-Ritter said Learning and Technology Services provided Senate with an outdated student e-mail list, which prevented some freshmen from receiving the e-mailed referendum question or being able to log on to the survey Thursday. The e-mail mix up also gave recent alumni access to the referendum.
"A small percentage of freshmen got it, but most freshmen did not get the e-mail," Thesing-Ritter said, who estimated about 1,900 students didn't get the e-mail Thursday. Those people could also not log onto the referendum even if it had been forwarded to them by other students, she said.
Sen. Jacob Kampen, who had originally been opposed to the referendum, was among the 20 senators who voted to keep the results.
"I was still opposed to the account itself," he said following the meeting nearly two weeks ago, "but I think that every single person that was not able to vote on Thursday was clearly able to vote on Friday."
Other senators felt the problems that had prevented some students from voting Thursday beckoned a recall of the referendum.
"I think my primary concern was just the principle of it," said Sen. Sarah Tweedale, who dissented approving the referendum. Tweedale said she was concerned that by extending the deadline to Friday, Senate had altered its original timeline for the referendum halfway through the voting process.
The referendum will now move to the UW System Board of Regents for System approval.
About 60 percent of voters approved the measure, with 40 percent opposed. More than 2,600 students participated in the referendum, marking one of the best voter turnouts in Student Senate history, Senate adviser Jodi Thesing-Ritter said.
"I've been at UW-Eau Claire for 15 years," Thesing-Ritter said after the meeting, "and at no time in that 15 years has a quarter of the population voted for anything."
The results of the survey were made available to The Spectator Monday, Nov. 24, following internal debates in Student Senate regarding the legitimacy of the online survey, which was snared by e-mail problems.
After debating the referendum's legitimacy and discussing the possibility of a re-vote on the referendum, Senate voted 20-5 to approve the current results and move forward with the measure.
The referendum was tripped up by what Thesing-Ritter called a "human error" that prevented certain students from being able to respond to the referendum on Thursday, Nov. 20. The problem caused Senate to re-send the referendum to students again on Friday.
Thesing-Ritter said Learning and Technology Services provided Senate with an outdated student e-mail list, which prevented some freshmen from receiving the e-mailed referendum question or being able to log on to the survey Thursday. The e-mail mix up also gave recent alumni access to the referendum.
"A small percentage of freshmen got it, but most freshmen did not get the e-mail," Thesing-Ritter said, who estimated about 1,900 students didn't get the e-mail Thursday. Those people could also not log onto the referendum even if it had been forwarded to them by other students, she said.
Sen. Jacob Kampen, who had originally been opposed to the referendum, was among the 20 senators who voted to keep the results.
"I was still opposed to the account itself," he said following the meeting nearly two weeks ago, "but I think that every single person that was not able to vote on Thursday was clearly able to vote on Friday."
Other senators felt the problems that had prevented some students from voting Thursday beckoned a recall of the referendum.
"I think my primary concern was just the principle of it," said Sen. Sarah Tweedale, who dissented approving the referendum. Tweedale said she was concerned that by extending the deadline to Friday, Senate had altered its original timeline for the referendum halfway through the voting process.
The referendum will now move to the UW System Board of Regents for System approval.
Be the first to comment on this story