Student fights fee hike

The Associated Students Judiciary will decide today whether a petition to throw out a fee increase is valid.

A student recently filed a complaint requesting the A.S. Judiciary nullify the Beach Pride Referendum, a fee increase students overwhelmingly approved in March A.S.I. elections.

In the complaint, student Scott Strichart contends the A.S. Senate did not follow the proper procedures for placing a fee increase on the ballot.

The complaint says the Senate violated the California Education Code and California State University guidelines from the referendum's beginning in the Senate Bylaws Committee to its placement on the A.S.I. ballot.

While praising Strichart for raising important issues, two officials said the petition lacks merit.

"I don't think there's a case at all for the referendum being disqualified," said Stuart Farber, director of Student Life and Development.

Douglas Robinson agreed.

"The process that we used on this campus is the appropriate one for increasing an existing fee," said Robinson, a member of the Student Fee Advisory Committee, which advises Cal State Long Beach President Robert Maxson.

Maxson has formally approved the referendum, which would provide an additional $1.2 million for CSULB athletic programs by raising student fees $21 a semester.

Strichart contends the Senate "overstepped its powers" in voting to place the referendum on the A.S.I. ballot.

He cites a section of the California Education Code. The code states that to place a mandatory fee increase on the ballot, the university president first must receive a petition signed by 10 percent of the students.

Both Douglas and Farber dispute this, arguing the code refers to the initiation of new student fees but not to the increase of existing ones. The referendum raises the existing A.S.I. fee but doesn't create a new fee category.

"The Education Code speaks to one way that a student fee referendum can originate but that is not the only way," Robinson said.

Robinson refers to an executive order of the CSU chancellor that specifically empowers student governments to introduce their own student fee increases.

"The Beach Pride Referendum was placed on the ballot through the A.S. Senate," Robinson said. "It did go through the proper process."

Strichart also singles out Farber for acting "outside the scope of his defined position as adviser to the A.S. Senate" when he seconded a motion to approve the referendum's language in the Senate Bylaws Committee.

He asserts that Farber, as Senate adviser, had no authority to vote in a senate committee and that the referendum was thus tainted from the start.

The complaint seeks Farber's removal from the bylaws committee and requests the Judiciary clearly define his position as adviser.

"The current bylaws don't support that," said Farber, pointing to rules that say the senate adviser is a member of the committee. "The bylaws say the student adviser gets to vote."

Strichart also contends the A.S. Senate violated another part of the Education Code, which requires a governing body to refrain from taking action on an issue until it has been publicly posted for at least one week.

Strichart contends the Senate voted to place the referendum on the A.S.I. ballot the afternoon of March 1 after the bylaws committee had approved it that morning.

Farber argues the Senate does not officially approve an item until the minutes of that meeting are approved, typically at the next Senate meeting.

"There's a full week between when these minutes were accepted and approved and when they officially went into action," Faber said. "Whatever action takes place in the Senate is not approved until the following week when they approve the minutes."

Proving the allegations are valid is not enough, said A.S. Judiciary Chief Justice Terence Pickens. Justices will have to decide whether the violations are compelling enough to overturn a student vote.

"It would take an extraordinary amount of contradictory information in order for the Judiciary to go against the will of the students," Robinson said. "If, in fact, they decide to do that, then we would have to really consider whether Beach Pride is a valid referendum."