The undergraduate student government will discuss amending its
bylaws to allow funding for all student groups at its general
meeting tonight ““ a discussion most council- members believe
will not last long.
Proposed by Josh Lawson, a general representative of the
Undergraduate Students Association Council, the amendment would
open up student government funding to all groups, including those
religiously or politically based.
Currently, the USAC only funds officially recognized student
groups ““ those that are registered with the Center for
Student Programming and those that are not politically or
religiously based.
The same proposal was brought to the table by former president
David Dahle at the end of his term this past school year.
However, the proposal was rejected by a council that insisted on
more time to consider making a significant change in their funding
procedures.
At the time, some councilmembers believed the USAC should wait
for the University of California Office of the President to update
its guidelines to comply with a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court decision.
In that ruling, the Court mandated that student governments
allocate funding on a “viewpoint neutral” basis.
Although drafts of updated UCOP guidelines have been circulating
over the past few years, official updates have yet to be made.
When the discussion makes it back to the USAC table this time
around, many councilmembers expect the same decision as this past
year’s to be made ““ only a lot faster.
“There will be a discussion, but it will be a short
discussion,” said Internal Vice President Allende
Palma/Saracho, who still believes the USAC should wait for the UCOP
to amend its guidelines.
But Lawson believes the council should not wait when its bylaws
could be in violation of a Supreme Court ruling.
If the council keeps stalling, a disservice is being done to the
campus, Lawson said.
Though the debate on when to amend the USAC bylaws ensues, most
councilmembers agree that the UCOP guidelines are long overdue.
“They were supposed to come out a long time ago,”
Palma/Saracho said.