By Travis DeNeal 26

Undergraduate Student Government should not have held an imaginary carrot to the noses of Registered Student Organizations needing more money, some RSO affiliates say.

It was frustrating to have taken time out of my day to present the background information for our organization to USG and then find out that there was no money to begin with, said Lynn Smith, curriculum and instruction associate professor and co-sponsor of Elementary Education Student Organization.

USG’s Finance Committee Chairwoman Joyce Newby announced at USG’s Nov. 5 meeting that no money is in the Student Organization Allocation Fund to give to RSOs.

During last summer and this fall, USG had an appeals process for RSOs that were not satisfied with the amount of money they received from USG last spring.

Newby said at USG’s meeting that she was notified by Student Affairs that no money was left in the SOAF account.

Smith said the Finance Committee should have ensured that money was in the SOAF account before USG announced the appeals process.

Why did they even have us jump through their hoops if there was no money at all? Smith asked.

Newby said the Finance Committee will give money to RSOs that appealed this fall if there is a positive balance in the SOAF account after it is rebudgeted early next semester. Newby added that she will contact RSOs if there is not a positive balance in the account.

At USG’s Nov. 5 meeting, Newby announced that the problem stemmed from over-allocation by last year’s USG Finance Committee and reduced money from the Student Activity Fee, which funds the SOAF account.

To keep a repeat of last year’s problem from occurring, Newby will be meeting with Larry Juhlin, associate vice chancellor for Student Affairs, on a regular basis. Juhlin estimates and adjusts the SOAF account.

Newby said that if there is money to give to RSOs who appealed this fall, the Finance Committee will not require further hearings from those groups.

We audio-taped every meeting with each group, Newby said. We all also took notes. That way, we can allocate money based on those meetings.

We don’t want to inconvenience anyone further.

Matt Waggoner, president of the Saluki Drill Team, said that although he is frustrated that his group cannot get more money for the needed additions to the organization, he understands it is not the fault of this year’s Finance Committee.

Still, last year’s group should somehow be held accountable, he said.

Waggoner said the ascots (scarves) team members wear used to be white, but are now yellowed with age. In addition, the drill rifles are functional but do not have the visual appeal that new guns would, he said.

Alumni are being sought for donations to the group, he said, because no new money is coming in this semester.

I think some of our alumni could recognize our rifles, he joked.

Another RSO, Grassroots, is frustrated with the general allocation process USG uses, although the organization did not apply for funding during the appeals process.

Dana Dubriwny, a journalism major from Naperville, said the undergraduate literary magazine for SIUC students may not be published this year because it has no funding.

Dubriwny said because Grassroots’ staff is completely new this year, it did not know it had a mailbox for such announcements in the Student Center.

USG sent announcements to all RSOs concerning funding, but Grassroots, unaware of its Student Center mailbox, was looking for mail only in its Faner Hall mailbox.

By the time Grassroots learned of the appeals process, it was past the deadline, Dubriwny said. Now, because there is no money for groups who made the deadline, she said her group does not want to hassle USG for more money.

We were shafted, but we don’t want that to happen to other groups, she said.

Still, Grassroots staff plan to attend future USG meetings to voice concerns with USG’s allocation process. Dubriwny said she and the rest of her staff believe that a percentage amount of the SOAF money, rather than an arbitrary amount determined by the Finance Committee, should go to each RSO.

Dubriwny contends that the current allocation process relies too much on the opinion of the Finance Committee.

It’s completely unfair, she said. Why can’t it be changed so that everyone gets a percentage?

Newby said she will suggest changing allocation to a percentage format instead of a case-by-case basis, but that a percentage amount might be more unfair than the current procedure.

The quality of programming a group does, plus its membership, varies from year to year, so if we set a percentage for a group then one year it might be unfair to a group while being more than fair to another, she said.

In the meantime, Grassroots is struggling to raise the cash to publish this year’s edition, which will showcase undergraduate students’ poems, short stories and creative nonfiction works.

Dubriwny said her group estimates it will cost between $1,200 and $1,800 to publish the magazine, but it may make do with less.

Even if we can get about $900 it will be fantastic, she said.

Because the group cannot get more funding this year, it has resorted to seeking donations from family members, friends and businesses. In fact, for the first time since 1960, Grassroots is soliciting advertisements from businesses as a way to raise money.

Though funding for RSOs is now a touchy subject, Newby said she will continue to try to keep RSOs informed of changes in future funding decisions.

I feel that it is important to keep them updated, she said.