UA denies Class Boards' funding requests

Three of the four Class Boards received less than half of their funding requests from the Undergraduate Assembly at the UA's annual budget meeting Sunday night. And the UA killed every Class Board request for additional funding, saving one. During the six hour meeting, the UA approved budgets for all divisions of student government, including the Nominations and Elections Committee, the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education, the Social Planning and Events Committee, the Student Activities Council, the Class Boards and the UA itself, allocating a total of $828,000. The largest portion of the meeting was devoted to debating the budgets of the four Class Boards, which were formed last year to promote class spirit and establish class-related social activities. Last year, the Freshman, Sophomore and Junior Class Boards were funded by the UA under one budget. This year, though the Senior Class Board, originally funded by SAC, was budgeted under the UA, and four separate budgets were made. The Office of the Vice Provost for University Life matched the UA's allotment of $12,500 to the class boards last year. But because the one year committment has expired, the funds are no longer available. The Freshman thru Junior Class Boards were each funded 80 percent of their total budgets by the UA. The remaining 20 percent will be made up by fundraising. "We have to ask people to prove they can raise funds on their own," UA Budget Committee Chairperson and Wharton junior Eric Leathers said. "I think this is setting a good but different precedent." Each Class Board appealed the decision, and the UA voted down each objection overwhelmingly. UA Treasurer Ashley Magids said the freshmen had several problems during the budgetary process. "The freshman class did not understand that it was supposed to [turn in] a proposal for next year and submitted a summary of the past year's events," she said. The resubmitted budget was also "inadequate," Magids added. Junior Class Board President Jason Diaz, a College junior, represented the freshmen because no one from the board was present. He appealed to change the Board's expected revenue from a class dance from $4,750 to $1,750, explaining that the Freshman Class Board overestimated the number of attendees and the price per ticket. "Our budget numbers are a little rough," he said. "These numbers are whimsical." Vice Chairperson and College senior Scott Sher countered Diaz during debate by saying that the UA would have to provide the extra $3,000 to the Class Boards. And Leathers said the Freshman Class Board was requesting money for only "somewhat passable programming?that the student body might not want." The appeal failed by a large majority. The Sophomore Class Board, which is in charge of Tiger Death Fest next year, appealed for $1,000 to buy more stuffed tigers. The extra money might have allowed the board to give the tigers away instead of selling them, Class Board member and College sophomore Michael Nadel said. College sophomore and Class President Lenny Chang said "it would be a lot cooler" with more tigers. But that motion also failed. After completing that budget, UA member and College junior Dain Landon requested $2,223.50 for a Junior Class Board escrow account for an additional junior class event. Sher, saying "money does not grow on trees," said the proposal would take money from SAC, a "horrible" move. After the motion failed overwhelmingly, the UA dealt with the Senior Class Board and gave it $803 more for publicity -- the one increase it gave the Class Boards. The UA then discussed Oktoberfest, an event planned for next year's Homecoming Weekend, which would be similar but more elaborate than last November's Skimmer Day. SPEC and the Class Boards were originally going to co-sponsor the event, but UA member and Engineering junior Guarang Shah requested to remove Class Board's participation from Festival on the Green, Friday's main event. SPEC representatives said SPEC had more experience with the project, adding that the overlaps between the two groups were too numerous. Some UA members said after the meeting that this decision may have stemmed from a letter sent from the Executive Board of the Class of 1996 which was circulated during the meeting by Nadel, who later said he was the sole supporter of the letter. "The current talk of cooperation between the two groups on SPEC's part served only to manipulate the budget process to take support away from the boards," the letter said. After a caucus when members from the two groups discussed the situation, the UA voted in favor of a plan to put all Oktoberfest money into a special escrow account which requires both groups to sign for every withdrawal. "I think it was a brilliant [solution] to continue funding both of them and force them to work together," UA Budget Committee member and Wharton sophomore Dan Debicella said. "They now need to do it together or not at all." Also at the meeting, SCUE received money for a new computer, printer and software, bringing it's budget of $10,312 to more than double of last year's approximately $4,490.