Measure 82: “Students for Empowerment and Accountability in Transportation Services.” [PASSED with 96.4 percent voter support]
Written and introduced by the Student Union Governance Board (SUGB), this measure is a fee amendment, allocating 1.41 percent of current total transit fees into a new student governing board, Voices for Empowerment and Safety in Transportation (VEST). VEST will be a student run and funded commission entirely dedicated to transportation issues on campus.
Currently, UC Santa Cruz (UCSC) students pay $522 yearly for transportation services, as a result of Measure 73 passed in 2019. Measure 73 outlines a yearly increase in price, reaching $573 by 2029. This fee is the highest of any UC.
Despite this steep price, a 2023 campus-wide opinion poll recorded a 92 percent dissatisfaction rate for UCSC Transportation and Parking Services (TAPS).
“[Measure 82] was really hoping to have a new avenue where the university would listen to students, you know, where student opinions are taken seriously, as actual experiences on this campus,” said Megan Amiya, SUGB chair.
Now that the measure has been passed, the SUGB can move into the planning phases of internally creating and beginning the hiring process for the board. Much of the new budget will go into onboarding student workers and board members for VEST, alongside funds for events, travel and technology.
Measure 82 requires TAPS to post quarterly budget updates and meet with VEST twice a quarter. If TAPS fails to do so, then a student vote can be held to revert the transportation fee to its prior level before Measure 73, which was $335 per year.
SUGB sees this success as an expression of student power and ability to make an impact when united. Alyssa Windom, the vice chair of SUGB, emphasized her view on this larger effect:
“This is just another example of when students get together and we come from love, and we come from support, and we come from actually wanting to improve people’s lives, we win — every time.”
Measure 83: “Communities and Belongings Programs Fund.” [PASSED with 79.13 percent of voter support]
This measure was written by Resource Centers (RCs) on campus. It enacts a new student fee of $20 per quarter.
There are six major RCs on campus: The African American Resource and Cultural Center, American Indian Resource Center, Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center, Chicanx Latinx Resource Center, Lionel Cantú Queer Resource Center, and the Womxn’s Center.
Before Measure 83 was passed, the RCs relied on one-time funding, which supported a vast majority of their programming and salaries for student employees. This heavy dependency limited the ability of the centers to create stable job opportunities and impacted programming.
The referendum opens new doors for the resource center budgets.
“[Measure 83] enables continuity for culturally affirming programs that collectively serve hundreds of new students by helping them build community and access essential campus resources,” wrote Nancy Kim, the executive director of the RCs, in an email to City on a Hill Press.
RCs provide access to food pantries, hygiene, menstrual and gender-affirming products, as well as providing monetary support for cultural events. Measure 83 will allow for larger expansion of these services.
Kim spoke to the importance of this measure for the greater campus community,
“The Resource Centers are central to UCSC’s mission of equity and inclusion, and importantly, offer spaces for community, education, and dialogue,” she explained. “Their programs and services are vital in helping students of all backgrounds to feel seen, valued, and prepared to thrive academically and socially.”
Measure 85: “Research Pathways Funding.” [PASSED with 80.5 percent of voter support]
Measure 85 was written by computational media assistant professor and Research Pathways director David Lee. It outlines a new student fee of $1.25 for fall, winter and spring quarter and a summer fee of $0.75. It will be applied to expand the current Research Pathways Program beginning in the 2025-26 school year.
Research Pathways is a robust curriculum that supports opportunities for peer mentorship and aims to give students access to AI, web development, user research and more. It began with the Tech4Good laboratory, which offers one-unit research reading groups and chances for research with other peers.
Much of this work is done through group projects led by unpaid student volunteers. Now, the new budget can fund up to 14 more paid student leaders for about 200 hours per year.
“It’s going to be more sustainable,” Lee said. “There is a way for student leads to actually get paid and have these deeper leadership and project roles.”
The money will also be allocated to research projects focusing on creating programs that serve the campus and broader community.
Lee further emphasized the benefits of funding this kind of research.
“I think that one of the really important things is to steer technology and innovation in ways that are supporting the community, and supporting society to provide opportunities where students can learn to become people who can develop technologies for the public interest.”
Outside of the student experience, the passing of this bill could encourage other faculty to expand their own research labs and mentorship programs that focus on finding solutions to real world issues.
The Tech4Good laboratory application can be found here.
Research Reading Group faculty research opportunities application can be found here.
Measure 86, titled: “SAVE UCSC THEATER ARTS AND DANCE.” [PASSED with 80.24 percent of voter support]
Authored by the Performance, Play, and Design (PPD) Student Production Liaison, this measure raises the student quarterly fee to $5 for every student. This action will almost double the current funds of the PPD Department.
This measure amends Measure 11, initially passed in 2003, which created a $2 quarterly fee for students. Thanks to the fee, students could attend any PPD performance for free. Measure 86 continues this benefit.
“Our production budgets will grow bigger,” explained Eric Mack, the operations and facilities manager of PPD. “It will pay for state of the art equipment for our shows, the things that we can bring to our stages through technology that we haven’t previously been able to afford.”
Beyond the production items such as lightboards, paint and wood, the new measure will allow student workers to be paid more, something previously impossible. Cultural student groups will now also be able to rent the Mainstage to perform their annual celebrations without heavy fees.
“Going to see a play or going to see a musical with a community, with your friends, is an experience that you hopefully walk away from changed. Theater is all about community, coming together and witnessing art, especially art that is socially and politically relevant,” said Celeste Lagrange, one of Measure 86’s authors and the PPD Student Production Liaison.
