Higher Student Bill, Not More Say in Decision

The upcoming special election will present Stanford students with “Meaure A,” a piece of legislation designed to increase the amount of money each undergraduate must pay as a contribution to the General Fee. Measure A’s explicit purpose is “to increase the programming and community service general fee by 10%,” but students will be doing more than merely voting more monies to the coffers of the ASSU Senate.

Make Sure Your Money Goes Where You Want It

The Stanford Review takes a close look at the budgets of student groups requesting Special Fees. Check it out!

Senate Candidates on the Issues

The Stanford Review asked Senate candidates to provide a brief summary of their viewpoints on door-to-door distribution and ballot endorsements. Responses from some of the candidates are enumerated below.

Election Bill Restrains Race-based Voting

On March 1, 2006, the Graduate Student Council and the ASSU Undergraduate Senate passed Election Bill 05 to prevent group endorsements from appearing on the election ballot. The new provision particularly affects the Students of Color Coalition (SOCC), a conglomerate of race-based groups that generally endorses the greatest number of candidates in ASSU elections.

Editor's Note: Vote Smart

Throughout this issue, readers will find a single overarching theme: ASSU elections are in need of reform. The Undergraduate Senate made an important first step in this reform process by precluding group endorsements from appearing on the ballot.

Smoke Signals

Several organizations petitioned around the Senate to be balloted for more funding. Generally, the Senate cut funding requests because they found the funding unneeded or not inline with the interests of the student body. Smoke Signals details some of the organizations that petitioned for more funding.