Each of the Undergraduate Student Government presidential candidates outlined platform goals during their campaigns, and students who voted in the elections outlined their own views and concerns for the upcoming year.

The 7,226 students who participated in the USG elections -- the highest voter turnout ever -- answered 12 referendum questions about a variety of topics including diversity in the curriculum, ID numbers and tuition.

The high voter turnout makes the responses to the questions even more valuable, Town Sen. Rick Smith said.

"It definitely adds some more credibility to the referendum questions," he said.

In one of the decisive responses to a question, students overwhelmingly voiced their support for fall break, with 74 percent voting in favor of keeping the two-day vacation.

USG Academic Assembly President-elect D. Josh Troxell said he was pleased that students voiced their opinions on the calendar issue, though he said he did not expect the results to be so lopsided.

"That was a nice surprise," he said.

USG President-elect Rubina Javeri said she hoped Penn State President Graham Spanier would take note of the student opinion on the calendar issue.

"We hope that President Spanier will see these referendum questions and take them into account," she said.

Another question that received an uneven response asked students if they would support limiting the amount that tuition could be raised. Student responses indicated 59.6 percent would support such a limit, while 25.6 percent would be opposed.

Smith said the question was aimed at obtaining student opinion for a program such as the Tuition Challenge Grant.

TCG is a state program that, if implemented, would make a portion of allocations for state-funded universities such as Penn State dependent on the university keeping its tuition increases under a certain level.

The response to the referendum question on tuition indicates that students support the TCG, said Smith, adding the incoming USG administration should take this into account.

"I think when you look at how the students voted, it's something their constituents support," Smith, a TCG proponent, said.

Troxell, who opposes the TCG, said he was not surprised by the response to the question due to its wording.

"It's a very leading question," he said. "I think it was a rather sneaky way of trying to justify the past actions of the senate."

Many students who voted might not be aware of the drawbacks of a tuition-limiting program such as the TCG, Javeri said.

In response to other questions on the ballot, students voiced their support for changing the ID numbering system that uses students' Social Security numbers as their ID numbers. Supporters of the change accounted for 41.9 percent of the vote, with 33.5 percent against and 24.6 percent indifferent.

Students also rated the degree of diversity integration into their curriculum. Many students indicated that integration was moderate or very little, with 40.6 percent and 38.1 percent of the responses, respectively.

Javeri said both of these issues had been addressed by the current USG administration, and she said she planned to continue to work on them in the upcoming year.

"It is something we will definitely pursue," she said.

Other results included students indicating they would support Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon dancers being excused from classes on the Monday after Thon, with 70.9 percent in favor. Also, 52.4 percent of voters indicated they would not like increases to the student activity fee to be higher than the $1 currently allowed for inflation.