The Undergraduate Senate passed the Student Government's 2008-2009 budget during its meeting yesterday, which reduced the Student Union Board's funding by nearly $7,000 and increased Women's Initiative's budget by $3,000 from last year's allocations.
The senate reduced SUB's budget allocation this year from $172,625 to $165,750, according to Barron Weyerhaeuser, chair of the senate's budget committee.
This cut in SUB funding prompted several SUB board members to attend the meeting and speak during the meeting's public comment period.
SUB Director Shea Mulcahy said the cuts in financing "would not just cripple SUB's shows next year, but would kill them." If the cuts stood, there would not be enough funding for SUB Cinema shows and at least one large show in Bender Arena, he said.
Weyerhaeuser said the committee cut SUB's funding because it did not demonstrate fiscal responsibility this past year and had not spent the $10,000 it currently had been allotted. He acknowledged that the cut would mean one less big act for SUB, but said the SG would use the money to fund a number of other events that would appeal to a larger and more diverse group of students.
Weyerhaeuser said he would have loved to fulfill SUB's request for $300,000 next year, but the SG does not have the money in its budget to accommodate for the top-tier acts SUB would like to bring.
To increase the funding for SUB and all other student organizations on campus, Weyerhaeuser and SG President Joe Vidulich urged the senate to support a bill to increase the student activity fee, which the SG has not raised for three years.
Vidulich said that if the student activity fee were raised from its current amount of $73.50 to $100, the SG budget would increase by more than $100,000 from its current $558,000 level.
An increase in the student activities fee would fulfill students' requests for larger acts on campus, Weyerhaeuser said.
This "Bill to Request an Increased Student Activity Fee" does not specify the amount that the student activities fee should rise to, but requests that AU look into increasing the fee. The bill went up for first reading in the meeting and will be voted on at their next meeting.
The senate increased the Women's Initiative's budget allocation this year from $18,000 to $21,000.
Weyerhaeuser said they increased WI's funding because the group had effective programming this year.
"Women's Initiative is probably the highest-performing, most efficient organization in terms of money allotted versus number of events and turnout," Weyerhaeuser said.
Also, they increased the Kennedy Political Union's budget allocation from $147,000 to $165,000 because of its success in providing speakers that appealed to diverse numbers of students, said Weyerhaeuser. With the budget increase, KPU could book three to four additional speakers next year.
The main departments the senate cut funding from were the school and class councils, Artemas Ward Week, Eagle Nights, the Student Advocacy Center, the SG General Fund and the SG's payroll. The SG payroll decreased from $78,000 to $74,000.
The senate also approved the SG executive cabinet positions and will install the new officers during its final senate meeting of the semester on April 27 at 2:30 p.m. in the Kogod School of Business, room 118.
