WLUSP fee increase passes with majority

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During the Wilfrid Laurier University Studentsโ€™ Union elections last Thursday, voters were asked three referendum questions along with their choices for elected positions.

Besides two standard questions involving the presentation of the unionโ€™s financial statements and the appointed auditor, students were asked if they supported an increase in the fee levied by student publications.

The text on the ballot read, โ€œI am in favour of a $0.75 per half-credit increase (up to 4 credits per semester) in the Wilfrid Laurier University Student Publications fee, effective September 1st, 2010.โ€

Though the official results have not been finalized by the studentsโ€™ union, the unofficial totals show the referendum passing with 1,096 voting โ€œyesโ€ and 878 voting โ€œnoโ€.

Party chair of the student publications referendum campaign and Blueprint Magazine editor-in-chief Erin Epp spoke about some of the reasons behind the fee increase.

โ€œOver the last few years weโ€™ve had increased costs and decreased revenues.

โ€œWeโ€™ve had increases in rent and advertising has been down on a national level as well as on campus.โ€

Epp added that as WLUSP continues to expand, more funding was needed.

โ€œOur acquisition of Radio Laurier has a lot of costs associated with it,โ€ she said. โ€œWe had all these factors that contributed to a hard financial year for publications.โ€

The results of the referendum were not surprising to Epp, who noted, โ€œI expected the outcome because referendums generally do pass at the school and I think it is a worthwhile cause.

โ€œEveryone has consumed student publications media in some way, shape or form and I think people do appreciate it and want it to continue.โ€

Though the motion for the fee increase did pass, the margin was not substantial; it only passed with a margin of 218 votes.

Epp commented that the values do not necessarily represent the opinions of all students because of the low turnout of student elections.

โ€œI would say that itโ€™s not necessarily accurate or representative of the entire student population because only 20 per cent votes and itโ€™s a certain 20 per cent that votes.โ€

Though she doesnโ€™t feel the numbers reflect the entire university community, at the end all that mattered to Epp was that โ€œit did still pass.โ€


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