I often get letters from Nigerian princes who have been wrongfully denied access to their treasures. All they want is a couple of bucks to leverage against the corrupt bureaucracy that has taken away their near-infinite riches. To sweeten the deal, they always promise a chunk of their earnest wealth in exchange. Why shouldn’t I forward on a couple of bucks today if it means a better tomorrow?

But what I don’t often get is a referendum purporting the same. The referendum question for Access UBC Association of Disabled Students is just that. It seems innocuous enough: I give a few dollars per semester, and in return the Access increases “accessibility, participation and inclusion for all people with disabilities.”

If this were only how the world worked. Nigerian scams have cost the US hundreds of millions of dollars. Likewise, Access has not provided students with any information stating they won’t squander them over the $150,000 we would be entrusting them with annually.

This is an organization that was allegedly just created. I contacted their elections representative, asking for basic, public, governing documents so I could learn about them. She promised an informative website. That was over two weeks ago, and after many follow-ups, she has broken that promise by ignoring my requests.

In fact, the only information I have about this organization is that they’re from the UVic, and that prior to getting their question on the ballot they ignored due diligence by not speaking to AMS staff or any significant UBC staff.

The referendum question asks for “$1 per part-time student and $2 per full-time student per semester.” They’ve betrayed ignorance of UBC; they don’t believe grad students are AMS members. UBC has no “semesters”—we have sessions and terms. This makes it unclear on how to fine us over the summer. Are we going to vote to give a blank cheque?

Most importantly, students have never voted to directly transfer money to external, autonomous organizations. It might even be illegal for that to happen in the first place, because the law says student society fees are to be sent to student societies. History has shown us that taxation without representation isn’t a great policy to abide by, and that’s what this naive question amounts to. Frankly, it’s irresponsible.

We have no idea what these people are going to do with our money. We don’t even know who they are. Students, you’ll be best served this round by doing what you do with letters from Nigerian royalty. Mark this one as spam by voting “no” until we know we can trust these strangers from a far-off land.