UA gives OK to $1.1 mil. budget

The UA allocated $32.5K for a discretionary fund to aid campus events. The Undergraduate Assembly unanimously passed its 1999-2000 budget totaling $1,064,395 -- including a $32,500 discretionary fund to cover budget requests from any on-campus organization -- during its annual budget meeting last night. The UA proposed during last week's meeting that the discretionary fund -- to which the InterFraternity Council had primary access last year for the purpose of co-sponsoring events with the UA -- would now be open to all student groups interested in obtaining funding. The size of the discretionary fund has increased, from $30,000 last year to $32,500 this year. UA Vice Chairperson and College sophomore Michael Bassik said last week that the only difference in next year's discretionary fund is that "it's just not going to be labeled as a specifically Greek fund anymore." The discretionary fund has come under attack by the Student Activities Council, which claimed that it was SAC's responsibility -- not the UA's -- to fund individual student groups. Also at last night's meeting, where 22 of the group's 33 members were present, the UA passed a constitutional amendment formalizing its budget request process and allotted $44,896 to cover its own operations and administrative costs, including the $32,500 discretionary fund and $18,841 in contingency funds for unexpected or emergency funding requests. SAC was the only group to see a drop in funding of more than a few hundred dollars this year. SAC received $446,436 in funding, a $2,683 drop from last year -- or roughly .6 percent. Every other group received roughly the same amount of funding as last year or an increase. The Student Committee on Undergraduate Education received a grant of $40,392 for next year and the Nominations and Elections Committee received $20,781. The Social Planning and Events Committee received a total of $416,014. And a total of $25,000 was allocated toward New Student Orientation. The Senior Class Board received $22,760 in grants and $70,000 in loans for its formal. The Junior Class Board received $12,025, with no money being allocated to pay for Skimmer. "How can I allocate $4,000 for something that hasn't [been approved by the city] yet?" asked UA Treasurer and Wharton sophomore Jonathan Glick, who added that the funding for Skimmer will be taken from the UA's contingency fund if the event proceeds as planned. The Sophomore Class Board received an $11,000 grant and the Freshman Class Board received $6,250. The UA also approved $700 for the weekend-long Ivy Council conference, which the group is hosting next fall. Composed of student government representatives from each of the eight Ivy League schools, the Ivy Council discusses and attempts to identify common solutions to universal student government issues. The UA also amended its constitution last night when it approved a formal budget request policy. Now, all groups interested in obtaining funding from the UA must submit a line-by-line budget request to the UA treasurer by 9 a.m. on Wednesday of a given week. The Budget Committee will then evaluate the request and inform the body of its recommendation by Saturday. Members can submit questions regarding the budget requests to the budget committee prior to Sunday night UA meetings.