In tears, a commissioner of the undergraduate student government
expressed urgency in the disbursement of $10,000 to her office at
the council’s general meeting Tuesday night.
Community Service Commissioner Crystal Lee expressed her concern
about the current financial problems pressuring her office and
asked for this sum of money at the last Undergraduate Students
Association Council meeting of the fall quarter.
At the meeting, Lee presented a problem that she said has been
haunting her office since the start of the quarter: running out of
money, which may cause community service projects, dependent upon
the office budget, to consequently lose function.
The office sponsors student group trips to the greater community
within Los Angeles participating in a wide range of community
service projects. The projects include visiting shelters,
involvement in tutoring and mentor programs, and visiting soup
kitchens.
Currently, the commission has been running on the $5,000 surplus
her office has from last year.
The money left over from last year has funded transportation,
which is the largest cost of the commission’s office.
Lee showed that the total amount spent on transportation to fund
these 21 student-initiated-and-run community service groups for the
year, would cost roughly $220,000.
The commission’s main money source is from the community
activities committee, a group that funds programs that serve the
off-campus community. Another $30,000 comes from the mandatory
student fees that undergraduate students pay.
But Lee said the sources of money do not add up to the
office’s spending.
“There are increasing projects, which is great, but it
also means that the cost of transportation is increasing
accordingly,” Lee said.
Lee clarified that the office is working very hard to think of
ways to fund raise thousands of dollars and has even set up a grant
committee working on applying for grants to meet the demands of
funds from the different sponsored groups.
In support of the motion during the meeting, Academic Affairs
Commissioner Eligio Martinez spoke of the importance of this office
as it serves people in the greater community and services students
who want to help.
“This is my fourth year in the commission, and I’ve
given my heart and soul into this. My whole life is in this, and it
would break my heart to see it threatened to the point of no longer
operating,” Lee said.
The final vote was unanimous for the allocation of $10,000
toward the commission’s funding from the surplus funds
available.
A concern was brought up when administration representative Rick
Tuttle pointed to the fact that for the commission to continue to
function, a possibility could be to limit the number of projects or
ways money is spent in support of them.
Nonetheless, the motion was passed.
“I was nervous because $10,000 is a lot; I wasn’t
surprised though because though we’re all working on our own
projects, we’re all there for each other. The unity of USAC
and their motion reflects to the student body that if outreach
programs are having a rough time, USAC supports them
wholeheartedly,” Lee said.