The undergraduate student government approved the proposed
base-budget allocations for the upcoming school year in its Tuesday
night meeting. This year marks the first budget cycle where funding
was made available to all groups on campus regardless of their
status.
In previous years, only officially recognized student
organizations were eligible to receive funding from the
Undergraduate Students Association Council. Any organization with a
political or religious ideology was not able to become officially
recognized, and, as a result, these independent groups were not
able to apply for funding.
This year, USAC dispersed a total of $220,037 between various
student groups and USAC offices. The groups receiving the highest
amount of funds were MEChA, the Muslim Student Association and the
Asian Pacific Coalition along with four other groups that received
more than $4,000. The maximum a student group could receive was
$4,400.
Past councils have been accused of making more favorable
allocations to groups that typically support certain councilmembers
during elections. With a majority of councilmembers being from the
Students First! slate and most of the highest benefactors being
Students First!-supporting groups, similar accusations could emerge
this year.
The number of groups that applied for the funds more than
doubled compared to last year, rising from 48 to 134. But, contrary
to previous expectations, the added groups are not all of
independent status.
Out of the 200 independent groups that could have applied for
funding for the very first time, only 24 chose to do so ““
nine of which received funding.
During the Tuesday meeting, President Allende Palma/Saracho said
that the low number of the independent groups that applied could be
due to a number of reasons, one of which is the timing at which the
process was opened up.
USAC funding was opened to all groups in early July, causing
some controversy regarding the possibility of groups’ not
being available to apply during the summer months.
A new issue that the council expects to address in coming months
is the potential appeals of the groups denied funding.
Forty-two groups were turned down funding. The Budget Review
Committee ““ the committee that makes budget recommendations
to the council ““ cited that most of these groups did not meet
the minimum criteria stated in USAC bylaws.
The bylaws call for funding to be provided to groups that
“provide opportunities for the educational benefits and
personal and social enrichment that derive from participation in
extracurricular activities” and also stimulate on-campus
discussion.
The one controversy surrounding the issue is the interpretation
of the above guidelines by the committee, which led to Financial
Supports Commissioner Alex Gruenberg’s abstaining from the
vote to approve the budget during the meeting.
Gruenberg said that, after reviewing some of the applications
for the groups denied funding, he did not feel that he could fully
approve the allocations. He believed that certain groups had
comprehensive applications comparable to those of groups approved
for funding.