ASUC Election Guide
Vote no on SUPERB Entertainment Fee
SUPERB thinks its that awesome and youre that stupid
By Justin Azadivar
From the April 2008 Print Edition
Remember last year, when SUPERB put a fee-increase referendum on the ballot, but it was crushed at the polls by a 2-to-1 margin? Its OK if you dont, because SUPERB put another fee-increase referendum on the ballot for this year. Why? We can look at some theories, but first, heres a brief summary of the new referendum.
The fee increase comes to $4.50 a semester with $3 going to SUPERB and $1.50 going to financial aid, which will almost double SUPERBs $100,000-plus budget. SUPERB is supposed to improve services, but this will be judged by an oversight board appointed primarily by the very people who put this fee on the ballot in the first place.
So, lets take a look at some reasons why they think it might pass this year, instead of last year:
Were special. Almost every theory begins with the idea that SUPERB is quite simply better than everyone else. They dont see why they should have to ask for funds like other campus organizations. According to what fee proponent Freyan Billimoria said at the ASUC Senate meeting on March 14, 2007, asking for funds is undignified, and those indignities apparently must be reserved for student groups, rather than awesome ASUC groups like SUPERB.
That takes care of the dead weight. Instead of funding various entertainment groups, as last years referendum did, this years referendum kicks Cal Band, UC Choral Ensembles, and UC Jazz Ensembles to the curb and only provides funding to SUPERB. To SUPERB, the only entertainment that matters is SUPERB entertainment. They think theyre just that good.
Its just a burrito. When the ASUC tries to increase fees, proponents invariably measure the size of the fee increase in burritos. Now that other organizations have been left out in the cold, this years fee increase is only one burrito, as opposed to last years two and a half. Theyre hoping that, if you only focus on the burrito in front of you, you wont consider the fact that youre forcing all students, no matter how useless SUPERB is to them, to give up a burrito, too.
Why should the people who are entertained pay? Strangely, despite SUPERBs belief that they are totally awesome, they arent awesome enough to justify their existence to the people they entertain. If everyone loved their events, surely they could make up the costs by having those excited students pay money. This is how it typically works in real concerts, burrito shops, and everywhere else in America. Demanding subsidies like this with the fee is their way of saying, Our events arent actually good enough for attendees to be willing to pay for them.
They love student groups exactly half as much as they love us! One of the selling points of the fee increase is that the general fees that would have gone to SUPERBs budget will be freed up for allocation to student groups. Instead of accomplishing that through a general fee increase, though, theyve conditioned that funding on SUPERB receiving about twice as much, so that we only get about a dollar for student groups for each two dollars we fork over to SUPERB. I guess they think theyre just that much better.
Maybe they wont notice, this year. Last year, the SUPERB fee ran alongside a fee for The Heuristic Squelch. When the fact that SUPERB could just go back to the ASUC Senate and ask for more money than the fee was giving them (i.e. funds wouldnt even be freed up for student groups) was brought up, they said that preventing it would violate senate autonomy. This was a bold, open lie; the Squelch fee included a clause that did just that, by making the fee end if the magazine ever went back for funds. This year, the referendum still allows SUPERB to go back for more money, but maybe students wont notice the lie this time around.
Were so awesome, no one can disagree. In an April 13, 2007, op-ed (Do Yourself a Favor And Save Student Life), fee proponent Raeonna Einerson displayed unbelievable, jawdropping arrogance in asserting that everyone will support the fee. It cant really be done justice here, so check out the Daily Cal archives and see for yourself, but the most telling piece was the comment I dont see why no is an option on the ballot. The next week, when it turned out that the reason for the no option was that more people wanted to pick it than the yes option, Einersons head likely exploded. SUPERB folks, apparently, are so awesome that they cant even imagine the possibility that someone might not think theyre as awesome as they say.
Therefore, show your confidence in SUPERBs awesomeness by letting them awesome their way to more money without your help. Vote no on the SUPERB Entertainment Fee.
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