Author: Ben Dalgetty
On Friday, Oct. 23, students at Occidental failed to pass a number of ASOC constitutional amendments due to a lack of participation, despite the voting window being extended an additional week.
The amendments were submitted by ASOC President Andrew DeBlock to the Senate on Oct. 6 and were made because, “[the ASOC] Constitution mandate[s] that Senate allocate more than 100% of the budget before accounting for the GA, Honor Board, Senate Operating Expenses and ASOC Elections,” according to the original proposal.
As it stands, the Constitution requires that “after permanent employee, KOXY, and Newspaper funds are allocated [. . .] Between 65 and 70 percent of total funds remaining [be] allocated to Student Service Departments.” If the amendment had passed, the language would have been changed to “after permanent employee, KOXY, Newspaper and Mandatory Reserve funds are allocated.” The Mandatory Reserve is money set aside at the beginning of the year that the Senate cannot touch except in case of emergency.
Additionally, the amendments called for the funding automatically allocated to KOXY and the Weekly to be rounded from 6.98% and 11.8% to 7% and 12% respectively.
The ASOC Constitution requires that a quorum of 25%, or 480 students, vote on amendments. Although DeBlock said in an e-mail interview that “students who did participate in the election overwhelmingly voted in favor of the amendments,” only 330 students voted, making the vote invalid.
DeBlock said that the Senate will try to pass the amendments again later this year and plans on undertaking a heavier advertising campaign next time.
Asked for reactions to the failed vote, Director of the Office of Student Life Tamara Rice said, “I am disappointed in the turnout. I’m also disappointed in the lack of publicity for this vote.” She added, “I think students just weren’t made aware of the importance of these amendments and what the ramifications will be if they’re not passed,” in an e-mail interview.
DeBlock said that both the student body and the ASOC Senate are responsible for the lack of voter participation. “The fact that Senate has been allowed to operate under and pass an unconstitutional budget for the last two years shows that students are not very attentive to the actions taken by their student government even though it is all of our money (in the form of student body fees) that is being allocated.”
Rice said that she has heard complaints that the voting process is too difficult but added, “I’m not buying it. It takes 3 clicks to vote.”
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