Measure 51: Measure 16 Amendement
By Nikki Pritchard

Measure 51 proposes suspending the collection of Measure 16, the Student Voice and Empowerment Fee (75 cents per student, per quarter) passed in 2005. The measure proposes reinstating the fee in fall 2013 due to a surplus of funds collected by the measure.

The fee would be reduced to 60 cents per student, per quarter to avoid another surplus. As the measure is currently written, the funds are allocated according to a strict system of categorization:

• 55 percent: funding stipends for Student Committee on Committees (SCOC) officers and interns to coordinate the internal business of the SCOC, SCOC general, and steering committee members for SCOC work
• 25 percent: funding campus-wide outreach, recruitment, and operational costs of the SCOC
• 15 percent: funding to provide a small stipend to student committee representatives meeting certain requirements. This money can also be spent on general SCOC outreach if not needed for stipends
• 5 percent: funding for operating and programming costs of the Cross Committee Communication Caucus (C^4) so that representatives can host forums to share issues and concerns with other students on committees and with campus student governments *

Measure 51 would exclude these restraints in the reintroduced fee and allow for more flexibility in where the money is spent. According to the measure overview provided by Lucy Rojas, assistant dean of student services, “This fixed distribution of funds has been an impediment toward the successful recruitment of students on committees.”

Some may find the lack of fee allocation information disconcerting. Others see it as a way to recruit members for student committees more effectively.

*Breakdown of allocation from overview of Measure 51 provided by Lucy Rojas, assistant dean of student services