Budget Votes Begin Today

When the electronic polls for the election of the Undergraduate Council's president and vice president close at 5 p.m. today, students can look forward to another campus vote--two referenda on the council's budget.

On-line voting will begin immediately after the close of election this afternoon. Students can type "ucvote" at the prompt to vote yes or no on the two referenda.

The first question asks students to decide whether the minimum allocation for student group grants should be raised from 60 percent to 65 percent of the council budget.

The second asks students to vote on whether the council should make mandatory block grants to the house committees.

The referenda were postponed until after the election by a four-to-three decision Sunday night by the council's executive board, who feared that students' votes on the referenda would be biased by the politics of the election.

"[The referenda] should be done, but the student body has only heard about this tied to highly politicized and factional campaigning," one councillor said.

However, some supporters of the referenda fear that the separate vote on the questions will not achieve the 25 percent turnout necessary to make the results binding.

Many on the council were disappointed by the close executive board decision, accusing their opponents of trying to block the issue.

"[The decision] hearkens back to the U.C's most unrepresentative days," said council vice president and presidential candidate Lamelle D. Rawlins '99, who was one of the organizers of the referenda.

Council members hoped to educate the campus about the issues this week with an official door drop, which outline arguments for and against the issues. The first-year caucus also distributed a similar flier to the Yard and Union dorms

Council members hoped to educate the campus about the issues this week with an official door drop, which outline arguments for and against the issues. The first-year caucus also distributed a similar flier to the Yard and Union dorms