Your front-page article on Thursday (Feb. 16) suggested that students are paying little attention to the upcoming IRA Fee Referendum, which is unfortunate because the stakes for students are high. A “yes” vote will make possible the continuation and expansion of such IRA programs as the Mustang Daily, Symphony Orchestra, agricultural judging teams, Orchesis Dance, Human Powered Vehicle team, construction management competition, International Career Conference, art exhibits, Tractor Pull, math competitions, community-based learning and other education-related student activities. A “no” vote will result in a cut in funding for IRA programs, most likely eliminating some activities, reducing the budgets of other activities and preventing the recognition of new activities. We have done our best to inform students about the referendum and the voting process, while leaving it to them to decide which way to vote. Athletics-related Instructionally Related Activities are not affected by this referendum. Complete information is available at http://studentaffairs.calpoly.edu/feeref/. We hope that students will become familiar with this issue and plan to vote on Feb. 22-23.
Robert C. Detweiler
Interim provost & vice president for academic affairs