Update 4/9/04: Proposition C, the Student Body Center Fee referendum, passed with 54.8 percent of votes in favor of raising the fee. A total of 2,198 votes were cast. The results of the referendum will now be considered by the Student Fee Advisory Committee. The committee will then present its recommendation to SFSU President Robert A. Corrigan.

San Francisco State University students head to the polls this week to vote on a non-binding, advisory referendum to increase fees and maintain services in the popular Cesar Chavez Student Center. If approved, the fee would rise by $30 in the next several years.

The center is a gathering place for SFSU students. They swarm the center on a daily basis to grab a bite to eat, study, chat with friends, shoot pool, watch movies and live bands or take part in student organization meetings.

The current student center fee is $52. Proposition C would increase the fee in increments of $10 over three years beginning fall 2005. Under the proposal, the fee would rise to $82 in fall 2007.

The referendum is a non-binding, advisory vote used to gauge student opinions about the fee proposal.

Money from the fee increase would fund new programs and services and building improvements and create space for new restaurants that will serve soul food and Japanese, Thai or Filipino entrees. In addition, funds would help pay down the building’s bond debt and pay for salaries and benefits of Student Center employees.

The Cesar Chavez Student Center is a separate entity from SFSU. It receives no money from the state and is funded entirely by the Student Body Center fee and revenue provided by vendors.

Polling places are open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Student Center and in tents outside the Business and Humanities buildings. Pamphlets containing arguments for and against the fee increase are available at the polling places and also at the Career Center.

This is the second time in as many months that students have voted on fee increase proposals. In early March a record number of 8,587 students cast ballots as part of the student advisory referendum on the Local Mandatory Student Fee Proposal. Students voted in favor of increases for Academic Affairs, the Career Center and Student Health Service and narrowly defeated an increase for the Athletics Department.

-- Matt Itelson