USG approves funding for fall 2009 events

By Gus Bode

Undergraduate Student Government approved funding for events sponsored by 17 registered student organizations for the fall 2009 semester at the senate’s last meeting of the school year Wednesday.

USG President Chiquita Watts, who turned her power over to President-elect Priciliano Fabian before the meeting adjourned, said organizations requested more than $1 million for the fall semester. Senators approved more than $400,000 in spending for the fall.

The university collects money for student organization sponsored events through student activity fees. Student organizations submit funding requests to the USG finance committee, which makes recommendations to the senate. An organization cannot receive money from student fees without the senate’s approval.

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Ashley Epps, who chaired the finance committee, said none of the student organizations that submitted funding requests got what they asked for. She said choosing where to make cuts was a tedious process requiring long nights of number-crunching.

The biggest cut made was to the Student Programming Council’s request, which receives most of the student activity fee. The council requested more than $248,000, but senators approved roughly $162,000.

Sen. John Boddie said the Black Affairs Council also took a significant cut. Boddie, who coordinates BAC, said the council would receive $24,000 from student fees even though he requested $34,000.

At least three appropriation requests were sidelined until the senate’s next meeting in the fall. Epps said action would not be taken on funding requests for groups not represented at the meeting.

International Student Council, the Fashion Design and Merchandising Association and Wesley Student Council were among the funding requests put on hold.

Senators debated the funding request filed by the Sigma Lambda Beta fraternity. The bill revealed the fraternity would receive $5,683 for events, but a line-by-line spending breakdown was not provided.

Epps said spending breakdowns for some of the larger requests were not written into the bills because of time constraints, but organizations noted how they would spend the money in the funding request.

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‘We ran out of time with typing up the senate bills, but we’re going to do a line-by-line breakdown first thing Saturday morning,’ she said.

Some senators voted against bills because they thought they would be voting blindly without a line-by-line breakdown. USG Vice President Vincent Hardy said the senate would act ignorantly by voting on funding requests without seeing the breakdown.

Sen. Robin England said she voted against the bill because she wanted the committee’s funding recommendations to be displayed to the legislative body.

‘Because I know those bills went through several cuts, I would have liked to have seen them one last time,’ England said.

The senate’s last order of business was to ratify the results from last week’s student government election. Fabian and Epps took the oath of office before shaking hands with the exiting president and vice president.

‘Good luck,’ Hardy, who lost the election by 60 votes, said to Fabian. ‘You’ll be in my prayers.’

Watts said she was relieved the experience was over but excited graduation is only days away for her.

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