Editor’s Note: it was incorrectly stated that the A.S. barbecue will take place on the UCen lawn. It will take place on the Events Center lawn.

The Nexus regrets this error.

Associated Students Program Board is looking to increase its quarterly lock-in fee in A.S. elections.

A.S. Legislative Council wrapped up business for the quarter at its final Wednesday night meeting as they gear up for the 2004 A.S. elections this spring. With candidacy declaration forms due today, the council approved a bill that places a measure on this year’s ballot to raise A.S. Program Board’s quarterly lock-in fee by $1. The board currently receives $4.50 per undergraduate.

Travis Heard, Program Board commissioner, said the organization recently secured the April 8 Punk Voter Tour with NOFX and Alkaline Trio. They might have been able to bring more expensive performers to campus, such as Snoop Dogg and Big Boi of Outkast, if the board had the extra $1 that it is are requesting in the ballot measure.

“We got this show for extremely cheap; it was mind-boggling,” Heard said. “What really drives the cost through the roof is the security required, and there’s not much we can do.”

As Program Board attempts to increase its lock-in fee through the upcoming ballot measure, Rep-at-Large Felicia Cruz introduced a resolution to support the University of California Students Association’s (UCSA) opposition to a proposed fee policy from the UC Office of the President (UCOP).

“The UCOP fee policy would take the lock-in fees from groups like Program Board, SCORE [Student Commission on Racial Equality] and EAB [Environmental Affairs Board], and put them into a general fee,” Cruz said. “A.S. committees would take money away from each other rather than being able to go to the students for funding.”

The council passed Cruz’s resolution without opposition.

Financial aid for students with illegal drug convictions was also the focus of a different resolution at the meeting. Off-campus Representative Lance Tackett proposed a resolution for Leg Council to support an amendment to the U.S. Congress’ Higher Education Act of 1998, which currently denies federal financial aid to students with drug convictions on their records.

Tackett said the current language places “obstacles in the way of students’ ability to complete their schooling … and the provision has a disparate impact on different races.”

The resolution also passed unanimously.

In other business, On-campus Rep Komal Mehta’s resolution asking the council to oppose the Koala publication at UC San Diego also passed without opposition. Mehta said the university-funded magazine contains material that is offensive to women, minorities and the queer community.

“The Koala is extremely filled with hateful speech,” Mehta said. “It is using freedom of speech to degrade underrepresented groups.”

Mehta said she would bring the resolution to the UCSA legislative conference and ask other UC campuses to join the opposition to the Koala.

On a social note, Rep-at-Large Cervin Morris invited the audience to attend the A.S. barbecue, which he called “the barbecue that may change your life.” The event will be hosted this Saturday on the UCen lawn and will be free to students with an ACCESS card.