There is only one referendum on the agenda for today’s USS elections. This referendum proposes a complete restructuring of the All Campus Programming Board, which would all but dissolve its constitution, eliminate the organization’s autonomy, and place the role of programming in the hands of a director of programming. This director will have a dictatorial role, leaving students without proper representation and with substandard programming.

ACPB is a collection of individuals with diverse backgrounds, interests and knowledge. Let’s face it, USS members seem to have fallen from the same tree: probably even the same branch. ACPB focuses on individual opinions and the wide array of suggestions given by students, not the blind leadership of one person.

The ACPB proposal has not been properly thought out. The expert opinions and knowledge of ACPB members were disregarded and the referendum was hastily assembled without almost any consent or brainstorming between ACPB and USS.

Without question, USS is unfit to take on programming responsibilities. USS has never organized BlastOff! or FlashFest or Homecoming Concert. In fact, USS feels itself too superior to even have a table at these events. They do not care about these programs and they do not care about the students who attend these programs. USS is not prepared to take on the responsibilities of programming these events or the inevitable backlash of students when they fail at presenting quality programs. ACPB’s priority is to involve students and present the best programs possible.

The constitution of ACPB, a registered organization with approved rules and regulations, will be dissolved under this referendum. All decisions will be taken away from a group of experts and professionals who are hired based on qualifications, and will be handed to strangers with no experience who are appointed by one person: the new director of programming.

This director of programming will not be a professional. This person may not have even programmed an event before. This person may have never heard of FlashFest or BlastOff! or ACPB. This person, however, will be elected by less than 10 percent of the student body. It’s not difficult to understand how unfair this is to the students.

The new director of programming will be responsible for more than $200,000 of your money. Do you want this person to be elected by a mere handful of students based on the popularity of the candidate? Or do you want there to be an autonomous board of professionals who have dedicated themselves to quality programming?

The referendum will destroy programming on campus. This destroys the diversity and uniqueness of Kent State. Please do not stand by and watch your money and time go to waste as the character of our campus dies. Vote NO on the referendum.

The above column was submitted by the All Campus Programming Board.

USS Referendum: What will it do?

If passed, this charter will change the reorganization of the All Campus Programming Board and expand the current USS to create a two-body government consisting of an Executive Cabinet and a Senate.

Under the new structure, called the Undergraduate Student Government, there would be nine elected director positions similar to the current USS positions and 16 senator positions -10 elected senators to represent the academic colleges and six appointed senators to represent international students, non-traditional students, residence hall students, off-campus and commuter students and diversity.

The director of programming in the USG will chair the Programming Board Committee – the reorganized ACPB -and will be responsible for appointing undergraduate students to the committee.

If the referendum passes and the Board of Trustees approves the plan, the new USG will take effect during the 2008-2009 academic year.