Cutter Courts Recall

Dear Whitworth Campus,

Last night in ASWU's assembly meeting, we voted by a 2/3 majority to recall the recent all-campus Cutter Courts vote. This was in response to a petition signed by 10% of the student population that stated students were uninformed and unprepared to vote. The petition cited lack of clear information regarding project details and cost. ASWU validates this petition and will be holding a re-vote for the issue. This action follows the procedures outlined in the ASWU By-Laws--specifically Article VII, Section X. The By-Laws can be found on the ASWU website. (http://www.whitworth.edu/Students/ASWU/ConstitutionBylaws.htm)

ASWU is committed to transparency in government, and we want to serve students as best as possible. Our goal for the time leading up to this re-vote is to make sure that students are adequately prepared. We are currently working on strategies for more effective and efficient dissemination of information. However, we would like to encourage students that, while ASWU needs to be transparent, we all need to be active in seeking information on campus issues.

The voting time line will be emailed to all students by the end of the week, and we will continue to work to clearly inform students about the vote.

Thanks for your understanding, and please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions.
Josh Boyden
ASWU President
jboyden11@my.whitworth.edu
(509) 777-4559

Below is the information on the Cutter Courts Lights vote. This is the text that was questioned by the petition. Expect to receive a new version of this information in the next few weeks.

Original

ASWU would like you to vote on the possibility of installing lights around the tennis near Graves Gym. These lights could be used for night-time recreation including basketball, tennis, Frisbee, or soccer and other activities such as dorm programs, dances and movies. The Cutter Courts could also be made into an ice rink in the winter, and utilized for camps during the summer. Installation would take about 9 weeks. The lights and installation would be funded by ASWU money, which comes from the student fees. The upper estimate of the cost is about $40,000. This would come out of the capital budget, which is the long term budget, and would have no effect on ASWU’s more accessible unallocated budget. Currently the capital balance is about $58,000, so we would be left with about $18,000 for requisitions for the rest of the year. Considering the anomaly of this year’s budget, the remaining amount would be slightly lower than that of a usual year.

If passed, ASWU will commit to paying for the lights, up to $40,000, out of the current capital budget of $58,000. Installation would begin shortly, and the lights would ideally be completed in January or February.

If not passed, the money will be left in the capital budget and available for requisitions for other Whitworth community-benefiting purposes.