The Student Government fall elections begin today, and voting on PAWS ends at 9:59 p.m.Included on the ballot are candidates vying for open SG Senate and University Court positions and a referendum to make the SG vice president a salaried position.The only referendum on the ballot prohibits the vice president position from accepting paid employment outside the University during the fall and spring semesters or outside Baton Rouge during any other time and making it eligible to become a paid position. The only other paid position is SG president. Sen. Chris Sellers, College of Arts and Sciences and co-author of the resolution that put the referendum on the ballot, said SG included a $2,500 salary reserve for the vice president when formatting a budget at the beginning of the semester. If passed, the Senate would have to approve using the funds to pay current SG Vice President Martina Scheuermann. Sellers said Scheuermann would not be paid for past work but would begin logging hours once the money is allocated. “If the referendum gets approved, it doesn’t particularly mean she is going to be receiving a salary,” Sellers said. “The Senate still has to decide that when considering the budget.”Sellers said Scheuermann would have to quit her current part-time job at the Tiger Card office “in a timely manner” before receiving payment from SG. “This doesn’t have an impact on my willingness to serve,” Scheuermann said. “But it would allow me to have more time to go to meetings and work for the student body.”Gunduz Yavuzer, physics sophomore, said neither the president nor vice president position should be paid.”It seems like they shouldn’t be doing it just for their résumé or for pay,” Yavuzer said. “It should be because they want to do it.”Along with the referendum, 37 candidates are vying for open senate seats, and five candidates are competing for a spot on the University Court. Only seats for University Center for Freshman Year, College of Education, College of Arts and Sciences and University Court have competition, said SG Election Commissioner Alexis Sarver. The rest of the candidates are running unopposed. Former SG President Colorado Robertson said students should be concerned about who is representing them because SG has the power to shape the University.”If you want changes made on campus instead of just complaining, your senator is someone you can complain to,” Robertson said. “The Senate really is the voice of the student body when it involves making or changing University policy.”—-Contact Xerxes A. Wilson at [email protected]