[ Golden Gater Online - September 18, 1997 ]
Associated Students President Paul Chang implemented new policies to spread more money among more student organizations -- and it seems to have worked -- but student government is still faced with the dilemma of trying to accommodate established organizations' large and ever growing events while still providing money to nurture fledgling groups.
Chang and many newer student organizations thought the old policy was grossly unfair.
"It basically said, 'If you haven't done an AS sponsored event in the past, you won't get one sponsored in the future," Chang said.
Chang changed the funding policy to what he calls a need-based system. Each organization that applied for operational expense money -- under the $500 cap -- was approved for funding by the finance committee Saturday after a rush to submit applications when the deadline was moved up a week.
The changes are remarkable in that a wider range of student groups got money, while more organizations will be able to sponsor more events, according to Chang.
Over the summer, AS leaders provided an additional $45,000 to the general fund for organizations, increasing it to $115,000, and restructured funding criteria.
More established student organizations worried that the restructuring would limit their funding for special and cultural events took matters into their own hands last week.
A motion proposed by student representative Ricardo Montenegro on behalf of La Raza Student Organization, Asian Student Union, Pilipino American Collegiate Endeavor, Student Kouncil of Intertribal Nations and the Pan Afrikan Student Union took $22,500 right off the top of the budget.
The measure assured $4,500 to each group so that they could hold Semana de La Raza, Asian Heritage Week, Pilipino Cultural Night, Pow Wow and Afrikan Liberation Month.
Montenegro's motion, which took almost a third of the available funding for special and cultural events, also took many groups by surprise.
"That's not fair!" said an officer from the accounting fraternity Beta Alpha Psi who refused to be named. According to the source, the fraternity puts on over 20 events and four workshops throughout the year and gets less than $1,000. Most of their actives are funded through outside donors.
"We work for all the money we get." the fraternity officer said.
But Montenegro and other officers defended the motion saying these groups have been putting on these events for 20 years and thousands of people attend them.
"I've heard about Pilipino Cultural Night since I was in high school," said Emily Cabaccang, a finance committee member who belongs to PACE.
Other club's were still concerned about the preponderance of cultural event funding.
"The ethnic cause is a good one," said Steve Chicorel, the co-chair of Writer's Bloc, a new club for screenwriters. "But what about cross-cultural groups."
Even though more groups are getting money, established organizations still have an advantage because they are more organized.
"There is no event we haven't thrown," said Monika Brooks, chair of African/Black Student Union. Brooks explained that the advantage of more established organization is that all of the groundwork for planned events has already been laid out: They can look at past budgets,
change a few details and be ready to go. They also have offices in the student union, which makes it easier to keep in contact with AS and stay up on changes that happen on short notice, like this year's deadline crisis.
New groups, meanwhile, are still learning a process that can be frustrating if they don't know where to get help.
"I go to 'A office' they send me to 'B office' because they don't know," said Dave Warre, financial officer for Anime FX, a club for Japanimation aficionados. "There is a significant learning curve."
For as long as anyone can remember, the more established groups get more money because they make up the majority of the board of directors and the committee that distributes the funds: the finance committee.
While the new system seems to be fairer than the old one, Chang said he realizes the best way to assure funding is distributed fairly is to get more student groups involved in student government.
"I wanted to make sure the larger organizations knew that we weren't trying to carve them out," Chang said. "I just want to make sure everyone has the same opportunities they did."
[ Golden Gater - September 18, 1997 ]