Referendum to take place on 3 issues
As a result of several bills passed recently in the Associated Students of Utah State University’s Executive Council, a student referendum will take place Tuesday and Wednesday.
Nollie Haws, Public Relations vice president for ASUSU, said students have the chance to vote for or against three items. They are: Creating an ASUSU Campus Diversity vice president position, eliminating the extension vice president and allowing Secondary Education majors to run for the College of Education senator.
Students can vote Tuesday starting at 8 a.m. until Wednesday at 4 p.m.
Haws said “ASUSU isn’t just the student government, all students are members of ASUSU.” She said it’s important for students to vote because “these issues affect student life.”
Students can vote online from the convenience of their home or at any computer on campus, including computer kiosks in the Taggart Student Center, Haws said.
Haws also said, “The big push right now is to educate students on what’s going on because many students don’t know the history behind the votes.”
The first issue students will vote on is whether to create a new position on the Executive Council for a campus diversity vice president, Haws said.
According to the campus Diversity vice president policy paper, “The main purpose of this bill is to be able to better diversify our campus,” and, “This position will help to bridge the gap between some of the diverse groups on campus and the ASUSU Executive Council.”
The policy paper also states, “We are the only institution in the state of Utah to not have a position for diversity on the student council.”
Antonio Arce, a student of International development and a member of the Multicultural Student Association, said “For 500 years my people have been looking for diversity,” and, “many people here want to see this done.”
Arce also said, “When I see pictures on the wall, I don’t see us. We need to be there.”
Jennifer Putnam, athletics vice president, said, the point of the campus diversity vice president position is to simply enhance what the university is already doing and to make a wide array of students comfortable with approaching the student government.
She said ASUSU is not trying to take over programming by diverse clubs and groups, but ASUSU will merge resources and allow diversity programming to be advertised better.
According to a charter recently created, one of the purposes of campus diversity vice president will be to serve as “the official liaison between non-traditional and ‘diverse’ students, student government and university administration.”
Everardo Martinez, director of Multicultural Student Services, said, “This would create a working partnership.”
However, Martinez also said, “I think that improperly implemented it would go the other way,” but added, “If I believed people of color couldn’t work with other people, I wouldn’t have half my staff.”
The second issue to be voted on in the referendum is whether or not to remove the Extensions vice president from the Executive Council, Haws said.
Tad Thornton, the current Extensions vice president, said it’s time to “eliminate the person in Logan that can’t do what they need to do for their students.”
Thornton said “smaller classes in student Extension allow them to be close to their deans. It is easier to go straight to them. Let them decide what’s best for their areas.”
Thornton said the bill to eliminate the Extension Vice President creates a new liaison between the extension areas and ASUSU.
Bethany Allen, HASS senator, said giving each area of Extension “local representatives would make them more empowered and more likely to contact representatives on campus.”
Yet, Kristen Stokes, Family Life senator, said extension students “don’t know who we are because we haven’t made an effort.”
Tara Carter, student senator for the Brigham City Extension campus, said, “I think we need to have a vote on campus, we don’t need a liaison.”
Thornton said “I believe this betters the ASUSU position with Extension. This empowers the students in each area to do what’s best for them.”
The third issue in the referendum is whether or not to allow secondary education majors to run for College of Education senator, Haws said.
Michelle Arson, the current College of Education Senator, said many students who consider themselves to be educators by getting their endorsement for teacher certification are still not registered in the College of Education because their area of emphasis for teaching is housed in a different college.
Arson said when voting on this issue for the referendum, students will decide whether or not to change the wording of the current policy to allow secondary education majors to run for the College of Education Senator.