Responsible SAC budgeting

The Students Activity Council is wisely limiting funding from groups whose purposes overlap. However, the process by which funding requests have been granted has encouraged the "rubber stamp" approval of almost every application that comes before SAC. Since decisions are made democratically by representatives of each of the 100-plus member organizations, student leaders often refuse to reject others' requests for fear their own requests will be rejected in retaliation. The result is a glut of overlapping groups that differ in name only. Finally, after years of dividing the large -- but limited -- pool of money into microscopic proportions so that every group can have a hand in SAC's wallet, the council has finally taken a stand against redundant funding requests. For example, Circle K and Global Village were both denied funding at last April's allocations meeting because they were deemed too similar to Kite and Key and the United Minorities Council, respectively. This is clearly a long overdue approach to rationing funds. By denying money to groups like Circle K and Global Village, SAC is not demeaning their value to the University and West Philadelphia communities in any way. SAC is merely recognizing the limits of its resources and pushing groups to cooperate -- and merge if necessary. There is no reason why members of Circle K interested in tutoring local high school students, for example, can't do so through Kite and Key. As SAC prepares to dole out its funds for the upcoming year, it must continue to limit the number of groups who dip into the body's resources. When a new club or organization comes before the body seeking recognition or funding, SAC should first encourage the founding members to seek funding and/or membership through similar groups. Far too often, it seems like new groups are formed just to provide students with new avenues to gain leadership positions. After all, why be just a member of a large, established group, when you can be president of your own group? By eliminating redundancy among its members, SAC has finally realized that it is far better to provide adequate funding for a core of groups than to provide a few spare dollars to a myriad of overlapping organizations.