With issues ranging from the wages of University employees and contractors to adding the word "triviality" in the Honor constitution, six spring referenda have been finalized and will appear on the ballot when polls open this Friday.
Last Friday was the deadline for submission of referenda, which are now available for viewing at the University Board of Elections Web site, www.uvavote.com.
Students can vote online from Friday, Feb. 24 at 8 a.m. to Wednesday, March 1 at 6 p.m.
Three items are listed as "opinion referenda," which gauge student support of proposed changes to University policies, while the remaining three are "constitutional referenda" and propose actual amendments to the constitutions of University student groups, UBE Vice Chair Chris Jones said.
Students can submit referenda by gathering 950 signatures to endorse a petition, Jones said.
Referenda can also be put on a UBE-certified ballot by various student organizations, such as Council, Honor, or the UJC, as allowed by their respective constitutions.
According to Patricia Lampkin, vice president for student affairs, the referenda that seek to make concrete changes in students organizations, such as those proposed to the Council or Honor constitutions, are more likely to have an impact on the University community than the referenda that gauge student opinion on a certain topic, such as this spring's referenda concerning the usage of social security numbers as student I.D. numbers.
One of the most controversial of the items up for vote this spring is a proposed consensus clause amendment submitted by Students for the Preservation of Honor, which would require any change to the University's single sanction to receive approval from at least 33 percent of the student body, Jones said.
Additionally, the Honor Committee submitted a referendum that would change the wording of the third criterion of an Honor offense from "seriousness" to "triviality."
The University Judiciary Committee also proposed an amendment to the Standards of Conduct that would provide harsher penalties to hate crimes, including the possibility of expulsion from the University.
Of the opinion referenda, third-year Engineering student Mark Hopke submitted a petition to alter the University's policy of using Social Security numbers for identification because of "potential for identity theft." Another item, submitted by Student Council, seeks to affirm individual student support for the University's payment of a minimum "living wage" of $10.72 to all employees.
The final opinion item would encourage the University to add five dollars to tuition each semester to be invested into renewable energy options for the University.
"It will give the administration an idea of how much support is out there," Student Council President Jequeatta Upton said about the energy refrendum.
Voter turnout for fall elections was 12 percent of undergraduate students and two percent of graduate students.
Jones said the UBE is working hard to increase turnout for spring elections, as more prominent student leadership positions, such as Student Council executives, are filled.
"Spring elections are a much bigger deal in every way," Jones said.
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