After over a month of impassioned debate and fiery rhetoric at Undergraduate Council meetings about whether or not to increase the College’s Student Activities Fee by $40, students will finally get their chance to make their voices heard in a referendum vote beginning today at noon and ending this Saturday.

Earlier this month, the council agreed to allow undergraduates to weigh in on the hike that would increase the Student Activities Fee from $35 to $75, as well as a separate question on whether or not to make the fee mandatory.

Since then, council members on both sides of the issue have been working hard to convince students—and each other—that their side is right.

And while students go online to casts their ballots today, council members continue to clash over the merits of the fee increase, as well as the manner in which each side has presented its arguments.

A BETTER HARVARD?

Poster kiosks across campus are littered with signs asking students whether they “believe.”

These “Believe In A Better Harvard” signs have been posted by the proponents of the fee hike in an effort to help people connect the proposal with an improved quality of life on campus, according to council member Russell M. Anello ’04, one of the co-sponsors of the proposal.

Anello, like other supporters of the hike, argues that the increase in the fee will allow the council to offer better services—like more movie nights, expanded shuttle services and larger, more frequent concerts—which in turn will improve the campus environment for all students.

In March, council President Matthew W. Mahan ’05 sent out an e-mail in support of the fee hike, painting the increase as a necessity.

“After almost two months in office and countless conversations with students, administrators, and people at other campuses, I am convinced that we can build a much stronger campus with a student activities fee that is comparable to that of other colleges,” Mahan wrote, referring to how Harvard’s current fee pales in comparison to those of Stanford University and Northeastern University, where students pay $100.

But Mahan and Anello admit that it is going to be a battle to convince students that an increased termbill translates into a better Harvard.

“We understand its not a simple sell because people’s gut reaction is ‘I don’t want to pay any more money,’” Anello says.

The issue of money is central to the opposition’s arguments.

Joshua A. Barro ’05, who is leading the opposition, likens the proposed increase to a tax hike. He says he is concerned with the council’s ability to handle an increased budget, writing in a position paper that the council is “institutionally incapable” of doing so.

The arguments of Barro and the opponents to the hike also take issue with making the current voluntary fee mandatory.