The Student Government Association election will be held March 14 to 17, and students will be voting on new senators, a new student body president and deciding the fate of USM’s student-run TV station, Gorham Television.
Unlike the other referendum questions that are gauging student opinion, including one asking about a tobacco-free campus, the result of the GTV question will be implemented after the election.
GTV is funded by the Student Senate and must go before the Senate each year to approve its budget. The Senate has decided to no longer include GTV in their budget, so the station will either join the Student Communication Board or be disbanded.
The SCB receivs 30 percent of the student activity fee each year and is comprised of The Free Press and WMPG, the community radio station. Students can vote for GTV to join the SCB with no increase in the SCB’s budget or with an increase to accommodate GTV.
A least 50 percent of respondents and 33 percent of those who are residents must vote to disband GTV for it to pass. If these figures aren’t met, the highest of the other two options will pass.
Mako Bates, the student senator who drafted the referendum question, said it’s not clear that the student body needs a TV station. Adrian Wong-Ken, the student manager of GTV, said he wished to wait until he had more time to go over the question before commenting.
The Personal Review Board, a student government committee, recently decided to give stipends to all Student Senate positions, according to Bates. Before, only members of the executive board and committee chairs received stipends.
Stipends will be roughly $500 per an academic year and stipends for officer positions will be slightly reduced. Bates said there will be an increase of roughly $1,000 to $2,000 net increase as a result of the change.
He said they did it to encourage more students to run for senate. He also said they hope it will cause the work done by senators to be more evenly distributed.
Check back next week for our comprehensive coverage of the election, including an in-depth analysis of the future of GTV.