UA distributes funds at annual budget meeting

$918,000 divided among branches The Undergraduate Assembly completed its budget allocation meeting Sunday night in record-breaking time, distributing $918,000 to the six branches of student government in fewer than three hours. Previous meetings have lasted up to nine hours. The final budget allocated nearly $26,000 to the UA itself, $16,884 to the Nominations and Elections Committee and $22,200 to the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education. Last year, $14,742 was allocated to the NEC, $15,175 was given to SCUE and $25,834 left for the UA. After making allocations to the Social Planning and Events Committee and the four class boards, the UA allocated $420,180 -- the remainder of the budget -- to the Student Activities Council, in accordance with student government bylaws. Last year, SAC received $535,572. The substantial decrease can be attributed to the transferrence of Connaissance from SAC to SPEC. The two subcommittees of the Social Planning and Events Committee, SPECTRUM and the Penn Student Art Gallery, successfully appealed the decision of the UA Budget Committee and received additional funds. Connaissance, which was recently transferred to SPEC jurisdiction, was denied its request for additional funding for contingency money, which is intended for unexpected expenses. Although all SPEC groups receive 20 percent contingency, the UA voted to refuse Connaissance -- a group which brings speakers to campus -- this additional funding. UA Treasurer and College sophomore Steve Schorr explained at the meeting that Connaissance's grant already exceeded last year's allocation, adding that granting contingency funding would cut into the grant given to the Student Activities Council. But Connaissance representatives argued at the meeting that additional contingency funding would actually have benefited SAC groups, since Connaissance co-sponsors many events with SAC groups. Connaissance also claimed the contingency is necessary because accurately predicting the costs of speakers is impossible. But Schorr maintained that the UA only had $112,000 available for speakers, and that Connaissance would have to keep its costs below that figure. The final SPEC budget after the appeals was $377,565. Last year, SPEC was allocated $232,440. The incoming freshman class board received $5,465, the sophomores $12,625, the juniors $11,950 and the seniors $21,204. The four class boards requested that, in the future, the system for budget requests be changed to allow each grade to request funds on its own behalf. Currently, each grade requests funding for the incoming year, so that the current junior class board is ultimately determining the budget for next year's junior class board. Schorr attributed the meeting's efficiency to an early completion of the request process. For the first time in years, the budgets were distributed to the UA by the constitutionally mandated date of February 1, rather than at the meeting itself. This allowed members and other government bodies to review the figures before the meeting, Schorr explained. The UA Budget Committee announced in September that it would deduct funds from all late budget requests equaling one percent for each day over deadline. Next year's sophomore budget was cut by $257 to reflect the fact that the current freshman class board handed in its budget request two days late.

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