When the fall 2005 referendum results were made public after a long delay last week, the student body greeted them with a mixed response.

The referendum touched on different aspects of student life, from the potential increase in Middle East/North Africa studies classes to whether or not there should be an immediate withdrawal of United States troops from Iraq.

Some of the responses to the referendum were unexpected. The Credit/No Entry system, despite expectations to the contrary, passed with 69.7 percent.

“The college thought that the No Entry grade, while allowing for exploration outside a student’s major field of study, also impeded a student’s progress toward graduating,” said Elizabeth Clerkin of the Office of the Registrar.

Another referendum question asked students whether they thought that the United States should plan and execute the immediate withdrawal of all military forces and associated contractors from Iraq.

Students were conflicted as to whether that question should be on the ballot since some students questioned whether the referendum results would have any concrete impact on the war.

Student Senator and College sophomore Colin Jones strongly advocated that the question be placed on the referendum.

“[It is important] especially with Oberlin and its history,” said Jones. “For example, Oberlin took a prominent place in events like the Vietnam War, which we didn’t support...We can’t change what’s going on in Iraq, but it doesn’t mean we can’t talk about it.”

Senator and College junior Lindsay Baruffa countered this viewpoint, stating that the question of immediate withdrawal from Iraq was “less pertinent to the student body.”

The debate over this referendum question reflects broader doubt among students over how much the student referendum should discuss world events and how much it should focus simply on campus and student life.

After the Senate extended the voting deadline, about 50 percent of the student body eventually responded to the referendum. Turnout was less than expected — 50 percent is the minimum required by the Senate Constitution.

College sophomore and student senator Brendan Morris said that he thought one of the biggest problems with voter turnout was that the referendum was simply too long.

“The questions served the interests of small groups on campus and not the majority of the students,” said Morris. “Also, many of the topics should have been dealt with by the Student Senate directly instead of being placed on the referendum.”

However, several of the issues Morris cited as unnecessary do require student input via the referendum. While students may not want to vote on the payment plan of student senators, the Senate Constitution requires that students vote on any changes made to the Constitution.

Students perceive that their votes carry little weight, and this attitude may explain the low turnout on the referendum.

“What gets me most is that I don’t know if the Senate acts on the results,” said College sophomore Ezra Pincus-Roth. “I don’t know what actual clout the referendums have.”

Although some students, like Pincus-Roth, wonder whether their referendum votes really impact student life, Morris said that Senators take the results very seriously.

“My hope was that students would express their opinion on the matter and we would then forward that information to the United States House of Representatives,” Morris said in regard to the Iraq referendum question.

On the college level, the results can affect the day-to-day affairs of the Student Senators and influence what becomes the policy on campus.

“[Because of the referendum], the Senate can now advocate very strongly for the practice rooms in the conservatory to stay open later,” said student senator and junior Ezra Temko. He added that, since he now knows of students’ negative reaction to the referendum question of mandatory health insurance for all students, he would hesitate to support that measure.

Despite the low voter turnout and the questions’ lukewarm reception, senators remain positive about the process of the referendum.

“We learned a lot,” said Jones. “Good will come out of this, and we’ll do better next time.”