By Jeff Schrade
Arizona Daily Wildcat
November 14, 1997

Memorial Student Union Referendum: VOTE NO!!

Editor:

Few would deny that the UA needs a new Student Union. Students who will vote "NO" on the upcoming referendum are not voting against the construction of a new Student Union. Rather, the issue at hand on the November 18 &19 ballot is whether the students should assess a MANDATORY annual fee on themselves.

At the heart of this issue lies the Arizona Constitution. As a state-funded institution, the U of A has a constitutional mandate to provide a university education to Arizona residents for "as nearly free as possible" (Article 11 Section 6). Student leaders have successfully employed this section of the Constitution numerous times on state officials to keep our tuition one of the lowest in the country.Now the President of ASUA wants to circumvent this mandate and force students at the U of A to pay $80 more per year. It is plausible that if the students pass the fee, the Regents and Legislature might choose to ignore the "as nearly free as possible" constitutional mandate too. What is certain is that students' pleas to keep tuition low will be ignored.

Students voting on the referendum should not assume that imposing a student fee saves us from tuition hikes. Last year, students statewide asked for a 0% tuition increase. Although the students complained loudly about paying a penny more for our education, the Regents raised in-state tuition and fees 2.5% or $49 per year ("Regents Increase Tuition for Universities," Arizona Daily Wildcat; April 25, 1997). Need I remind students that the $80 Union fee represents more than a 3.8% increase in tuition and fees? Support of the $80 fee by students will send a loud message to state officials that tuition raises aren't a big deal to students.

Adding to the cluster of concerns about the fee, the UA Foundation and alumni have not been tapped for support yet. McClelland Hall was built COMPLETELY with donated money!! Once again students are asked to pay the most expensive route to construct this building because the administration and ASUA have chosen the path of least resistance - students' wallets. There is another way, and UA students should be afforded a union without a direct fee, just as ASU and NAU students were afforded in 1990 and 1988, respectively.

Leaders on this campus have made the referendum discussion extremely one-sided. So let the opposition do their talking on the ballot by voting "NO" on November 18 &19!

Jeff Schrade
Political Science/Economics Senior
Chairman of "Union Yes, FEE NO!!!" Committee
Union Yes, FEE NO Web page http://www.u.arizona.edu/~schrade