UA boosts funding for activities council

For the Undergraduate Assembly, handing out $1.5 million is all in a night's work.

At Sunday night's meeting, the body amended and passed the UA Budget Committee's annual budget, which allocates money to the five student-government organizations -- itself, the Nominations and Elections Committee, the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education, the Social Planning and Events Committee and the four class boards.

The total funds allocated were up 5.1 percent from last year.

Funds were also dispensed to the Student Activities Council, which receives the funds not distributed to other branches. This year, SAC's budget increased by 3.7 percent, for a total of $716,648, more than any government group received.

The council provides funds to about 220 University-recognized groups.

College sophomore and newly elected SAC Chairwoman Shirley Liang said that the funding increase was a necessary one.

"We are constantly recognizing groups," she said. "We don't want to have to turn new groups away."

The Social Planning and Events Committee received $648,758, to be used to pay for a variety of concerts and speakers hosted throughout the year as well as Spring Fling.

The UA also voted to increase the budget for QPenn, the annual gay pride and awareness week, from $3,300 to $6,000. QPenn's funding falls under the SPEC budget.

UA Vice Chairman of External Affairs and Wharton junior Brett Thalmann, who also co-chairs the Queer Student Alliance, encouraged other UA members to vote for the increase in budget.

"It's a historical fact that all these other [unity] weeks get more," he said. "It's a matter of fairness."

The largest cut in budget allocations from last year was in the UA's operations and administration budget, which decreased by about 16 percent.

Twenty-eight of the 32 UA members were in attendance at the beginning of the nine-hour meeting. But when the meeting ended at about 2 a.m. yesterday, 21 members remained.

As UA member and College senior Spencer Scharff noted during the meeting, "two-thirds of the vote right now is equal to less than half of our body," referencing the two-thirds vote that is necessary to pass an amendment to the budget.

UA Chairwoman and College senior Rachel Fersh understood that some members had to leave because of midterms and other academic responsibilities. However, she expressed regret that more members didn't stay.

"I wish that more body members had been there," for the end of the meeting, she said. The budget meeting "reflects one of the more important functions that we play on campus."

Budget increase - The Undergraduate Assembly allocated approximately $1.5 million to student government groups - The Student Activities Council, which funds most student clubs, received $716,648 - The Social Planning and Events Committee, which hosts concerts and guest speakers, received $648,758

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.