The referendum, approved unanimously by the ASUAF Senate on March 4, asks students if the student government fee should be raised from $35 to $45 per semester.

Another question on the ballot asks if the percentages allocated to KSUA, the Sun Star, and the Concert Board should change.

Currently, 27 percent of the fee goes to KSUA, 15 percent goes to the Concert Board and 7 percent goes to Sun Star.

If the new fee formula were approved, KSUA's share would drop to 24 percent, while the Sun Star would receive 9 percent and the Concert Board would get 16 percent.

ASUAF's portion would remain at 51 percent.

The percentages would only be changed if the fee hike question were approved.

Henry Cole, the ASUAF senator who first proposed the fee hike, said although the percentage awarded to KSUA would decrease, the amount of money it would receive under a $45 fee would be higher than what it currently receives.

"What I wanted to do here was to divide the fee increase roughly evenly between the four groups," Cole said in an e-mail. "If we increased the fee without altering the percentages, KSUA would receive the lion's share of the new money."

Cole proposed the referendum in February hoping to increase funding for the three entities and ASUAF.

He said without a fee increase, ASUAF will be in the red, or at least paying fixed costs only, such as KSUA, Sun Star, Concert Board, and their executive officer, who deals with pay and other issues within ASUAF, in the next six years.

Even before that time is up, Cole said, the senate would be ineffective and wouldn't have enough money to provide services to the students. "Then there would be no point in us being here," he said.

Last month, none of the student organizations said they needed the money, but said there would be benefits to each to having more money.

"If we don't get the increase, we'd still be fine," said KSUA General Manager Nick Brewer.

KSUA will eventually have to upgrade to High Definition radio, which will be a huge one-time cost that the fee increase could help offset, Brewer said.

The Concert Board could bring in bigger acts, Student Activities Coordinator Jeff Stepp said last month.

Cole suggested the Sun Star could use the funds for higher employee wages and to produce more color issues.

As far as ASUAF goes, the fees currently fund programs like Club Council, the campus recycling program, student travel-funding, and the contracts with KSUA, the Sun Star, and Concert Board.

They also sponsor events, such as a masquerade ball in spring 2006.

Cole hopes that "students see the choice between a fee or losing programs."

Dates for the ASUAF elections have not yet been set, though it's tentatively expected to occur in May.

Even if students vote for both a fee increase and a percentage change, voter approval may not be the last step to securing the fee for some entities.

Under the Sun Star's publication agreement between ASUAF and the Journalism Department, the student government is required to allocate only 7 percent of the fee to the newspaper.

A four-fifths vote of the Sun Star's oversight board is required to amend the contract.

Still, Cole said it would be unlikely that the board would turn down an increase in money.