UA budget finalized, Ivy Council denied funding

The Undergraduate Assembly passed the 2010-2011 Budget in a unanimous vote at its meeting last night.

The body eliminated the Ivy Council's funding from the budget and voted against the Social Planning and Events Committee’s amendment calling for a $15,000 increase in contingency.

Ivy Council's funding was a “pretty contentious issue,” according to College senior and UA Treasurer Sakina Zaidi.

In its original recommendation, she and the other members of the Budget Committee advocated funding the Council based on the body's “implicit commitment” to the Council, in an effort to “stick to our word.”

Nevertheless, Zaidi said, “The body didn’t feel that the Council’s purpose was in line with the UA.”

Instead, the UA voted to re-allocate the Ivy Council’s funding to several “small amounts of money” that had been left out of the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education’s initial budget requests due to a “miscommunication,” according to Zaidi.

The rest of the money went back into the Student Activities Council's budget, which, due to the budget’s structure, always receives only the residuals of other allocations.

“I think things would have gone differently if [cutting the Ivy Council’s funding] had been brought up at the budget hearing,” Ivy Council Head Delegate and College junior Mo Shahin said of the meeting's structure.

Nevertheless, he added, “we are still committed to being of value to the UA” and to showing “the value we can provide.”

Another contested amendment dealt with SPEC's contingency funding, which is its back-up reserve.

SPEC needed the additional funds because 57 percent of the contingency money it had been allotted would be consumed by line items that had not been funded in full, College senior and SPEC Chairwoman Dasha Barannik said.

In the past, Barannik added, contingency funds have been used to address “things that have fallen into our lap,” ranging from unexpected weather conditions at events to opportunities such as the filming of The Colbert Report on campus in 2008.

On the other hand, Zaidi said, “We’re giving [SPEC] $35,000 dollars for emergencies. Please use it for that; don’t ask for an additional $15,000 to slush up the slush fund.”

The body voted to reject the amendment, thus keeping the $15,000 in SAC for distribution to other student groups.

Zaidi said the SAC funding increase is something "to be proud of," because it will give SAC groups the chance to be "creative and innovative" with their initiatives.

Additionally, the Muslim Students Association's request for $500 to fund Islam Awareness Week was passed, and the Sophomore Class Board received $1,000 extra to fund the Sophomore Skimmer.

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