Thursday, May 18, 2006
How many errors can you find?
This story about referenda results contains at least three factual errors.
Voters also supported the memorandum that would grant more autonomy and influence to the Graduate Assembly, with 74.4 percent in favor.
Actually, the number is 30.5%. That's the precentage of voters who voted in favor. This is because a vast majority of voters abstained. A quasi-error is the idea that the memorandum "would grant more autonomy... to the Graduate Assembly," when it does no such thing.
Referenda require a simple majority to pass.
Constitutional amendments, such as included in the GA referendum, require 60% of the voters who vote 'yes' or 'no.'
"A vast majority of voters abstained from voting ... which is kind of significant," Wren said. "It's a really convoluted, confusing memorandum and most people didn't have a lot of information."
This is not an error, but I should point out that, at the hearing, Manny and Josh admitted that they deliberately avoided putting any information about the Memorandum in the ballot question.
The assembly is currently required to pay 33 percent of election costs but has not paid its share in recent years, ASUC officials said.
Actually, it's required to pay a part equal to the proportion of ASUC members who are graduate students. This turns out to be somewhere around 30 percent.
Jay Stagi, chair of the assembly's Organization and Rules Committee, said the memorandum cements better relations between the ASUC and the Graduate Assembly.
"I really am grateful for students on all sides," he said.
Specifically, grateful for the ASUC for being pliant and doing whatever they said, and grateful to the undergrads for failing to understand the referendum.
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