UA won't fund $10,000 party

Rejects plan to hold Greek/SPEC event The Undergraduate Assembly voted down a proposal last night that would have funded one big party co-sponsored by the Social Planning and Events Committee, the InterFraternity Council, the BiCultural InterGreek Council and the Panhellenic Council. Last semester, the UA voted to allocate $10,080 in funding to SPEC so the four groups could throw bi-weekly parties open to the entire student body. But the new board of SPEC decided this semester that throwing one big party with the funds -- with the theme "Breaking Down the Walls" -- would provide "more bang for the buck," according to IFC Judicial Manager and College junior Josh Gottheimer. The party would be free of charge to the entire University community and alcohol-free. The plan was for the event to be held in the Annenberg Courtyard on October 7. Gottheimer said the funding would go toward getting a big name band, security and promotion. He added that the group would want to follow up with more parties next semester -- scaled down but with the same theme. Gottheimer, along with SPEC President and College senior Nelson Telemaco, Panhel President and Wharton senior Lissette Calderon, Big-C President and Wharton senior Trista Bridges and IFC President and College senior Dave Treat were at the meeting in defense of the proposal. After Gottheimer presented the plan to the body, the issue was opened up for debate. Among those supporting the plan was College sophomore Larry Kamin, who said he viewed the proposal as a "happy medium between frat parties and Spring Fling." But College sophomore and UA Treasurer Steve Schorr opposed the plan on the basis that it does nothing to keep students on campus for the remaining weekends. He also said the funding required for additional parties in the spring would have to come from contingency funds, which could not support such a demand. Telemaco said he was disappointed with the UA's decision, adding that the issue deserved more support from the body. He said the four groups put a lot of time into their proposal, and that through interviews determined that the students would appreciate one large event with a well-known band more than smaller events. "It seems to me that [the UA] second-guessed the four leaders of respected groups on campus with their decision," Telemaco said. "This sets a bad precedent." After the proposal failed, Schorr, who is also a sportswriter for The Daily Pennsylvanian, made a motion to revert the $10,080 in funding back to the Student Activities Council, but this was rejected by the body. The money will therefore remain in SPEC's budget. However, the funding may ultimately revert back to SAC because each week a party fails to occur, the money will be removed from SPEC's budget, under the plan that had been approved in the spring. As a result of the UA's rejection of this plan, the four groups will now "go back to the drawing board" to come up with a new proposal, according to Telemaco. Gottheimer said he is frustrated because the groups are losing time and money by spending so much time on planning. He said the groups put a lot of energy into drafting the proposal, since the cohesion of the University's social life was so important to them. Gottheimer added that after observing the voting process, he was "disheartened with the body." "There were people on the body who just wanted the money back to SAC and didn't really want a multi-cultural event," he said. "If they really cared about doing something multi-cultural on this campus, why did they impede us from moving forward?" Telemaco said the groups are going to continue to work together to get a proposal passed. "We definitely want to do this and we are going to take whatever steps we have to take to get this done," he said. At last night's meeting, the UA also passed a rule to force each branch of student government to complete their budget proposals by a January 27 deadline. The deadline will be extended for SPEC, which will have until January 29. Each day the proposal is late, the group will lose one percent of their budget. And the body also voted unanimously to elect College junior Jennifer Rocks as the group's first ever Parliamentarian. Rocks will be present at all UA meetings in order to ensure that parliamentary procedure is being followed at all times.