The fall student government election drew to a close on Wednesday night as 23 votes from the student body struck down the advisory referendum on the proposed Memorial Union expansion.
The Associated Students of Madison fall ballot gauged student opinion on two referenda and elected students to council seats, as well as one new member to the Student Services Finance Committee.
The plans for the Memorial Union renovation, which would add a glass expansion off the existing theater, was surrounded by impassioned debate from the student body.
The referendum was approved by Student Council during a Sept. 21 meeting after students speaking on the issue drove the extension of open forum.
The decision came to light after several open forums where Union Council, Memorial Union Design Committee and Hoofers representatives spoke against adding the referendum to the ballot.
Reasons cited against adding the referendum included the effects delaying the timeline of the Memorial Union Reinvestment Project could have on Hoofers, saying if construction was delayed any further, the student organization may lose lake access for an additional summer season.
In reaction to the result of the referendum, Wisconsin Union President Katie Fischer sent out a statement saying the current process would continue and urging student to attend a Nov. 7 forum.
“We hear [students] concerns and value their input and have been working closely with the project design team and the Wisconsin State Historical Society to create and renovate spaces that enhance our beloved Memorial Union,” Fischer said. “The design process continues, and we encourage students to stay involved.”
Another referendum to change Article X, Section 1 of the ASM Constitution to change the number of Student Judiciary justices from eight to seven was approved by the student vote.
Student Election Commission Chair Mickey Stevens said this year’s voter turnout increased “drastically” compared to previous years, with a total of 4,803 students voting out of the 42,441 enrolled for fall 2011.
These figures indicate 11.3 percent of the University of Wisconsin’s student body turned out to vote in the election.
The winning candidates for the First Year Representative to Student Council are Conlin Higgins with 381 votes, Mia Akers with 299 votes, Maria Giannopoulos with 269 votes and Devon Maier with 257 votes.
Ronald Crandall was elected to SSFC with 919 votes, just edging out runner-up Sam Seering.
Many of the newly-elected candidates said they would not waste time jumping into their recently pronounced positions.
“I want to make sure no students have lost opportunities, especially on a large campus like UW-Madison,” Maria Giannopoulus said regarding her goals as a First Year Representative. “I want them to know about all the opportunities they have.”
Andrew Bulovsky, who was reelected to ASM, said he would continue to approach his role as an elected representative of the student body as being “a watch dog for the ASM constitution.”
First Year Representative Collin Higgins expressed a passion to make sure the student voice is properly represented in ASM by creating a sustainability committee to make campus more environmentally-friendly.
