A student opinion referendum on the spring 2009 ballot questions the athletic department’s allocation of finances, proposing that the athletic department reallocate its finances to provide students with free water at home football games.
The proposal states that “the department should discontinue expenses associated with promoting ‘The Power of Orange’ and similar branding initiatives to students and redirect those resources toward the water program.”
Second-year College student Neal Fox, who sponsored the original petition for the referendum, said the point of the ballot item is to demonstrate that students’ priorities are different from the athletic department’s priorities. The referendum is not meant as an attack on the athletic department, but rather is an attempt to show that “the student body is more concerned with heath and safety and wellness, rather than getting free stuff,” Fox said.
Athletic Director Craig Littlepage, however, declined to comment.
Cliff Peterson, head of the Athletic Affairs Committee of Student Council, said his committee was working on a similar program but had difficulty trying to create a program that both the athletic department and Student Council were comfortable with.
“I heard it being talked about from members of various organizations and people interested in that,” Fox said. “I decided it was something Student Council should work on.”
The athletic department has encouraged Council to promote the water fountains on the upper and lower concourses within Scott Stadium rather than create a free water program, Peterson said, adding that there are no water fountains in the actual student section of the stadium.
Second-year College student Sharon Casola agreed that the water fountains in the stadium are not enough and said she believes that the program is a good idea “because you get so dehydrated and you can’t bring your own water bottles” into the games.
Despite the fact that the referendum is only on the ballot to represent the student body’s opinion about the topic, many students believe it is still important to vote on the proposal.
“Everyone has the right to vote on it,” and students should exercise those rights, first-year College student Molly Beauchemin said.
If the referendum proves popular in the election, Fox said he is not yet sure what the actual steps to carrying out the proposal would specifically look like. Some students feel the opinion referendum is not enough; third-year College student Nicole Gates said that while she agrees having a free water program at games is a great idea, more needs to be done to actually transform student opinion into reality.
“Who doesn’t want free water at the football games? Of course, we all do,” Gates said. “But asking the student body for their opinion when we all know the answer is going to be yes, is not enough. There should be some action by the athletic department, or at least something more than an opinion referendum.”
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