University Union will receive about 44 percent of the Student Association budget for the spring semester. UU wasn’t awarded the full amount it requested, but will be given approximately $249,360 for its two events in the spring: Block Party 2009 and the Large-Scale Comedy Show.

In a crowded Maxwell Auditorium with about 250 people, SA Cabinet members and assembly members voted on the allocation of money by SA’s Finance Board to Syracuse University student organizations.

In a half-hour discussion on whether the Finance Board’s decision was acceptable in giving a large sum of its budget to UU, Director of Technology Michael Fleishman said, ‘The Finance Board’s mission statement is to give money to groups that service the community and the university as a whole, and no group on campus serves as many people as University Union.’

Sacha Forgenie, SA’s comptroller and chair of the Finance Board, stood for an hour and a half, reading from a spreadsheet list of student organization events that received zero funding.

After reciting each proposed bill and its rejection of funding, Forgenie read why funding was denied. Some were because ‘it would be a misuse of the student fee,’ ‘the event is not original enough and wouldn’t bring enough interest,’ ‘bad budgeting,’ or ‘the organization cannot handle an event of that magnitude.’

Some organizations received partial funding and some full funding for specific events. A majority of the student organizations that were granted zero or little funding were new organizations trying to get funding and gain acknowledgement on campus.

Jerk magazine was another organization that sparked controversy among audience members, in relation to a controversial article published earlier this semester.

‘We allocated money to Jerk magazine because it is not fair to punish a publication for one mistake,’ said Bennison Ntsakey, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. ‘We look at each organization, in the hopes of seeing progress from year to year, and we give money accordingly.’

Organizations that were not allocated funding can go through an appeal process, but the appeals budget consists of only approximately $31,000. Organizations that were only granted partial funding were encouraged to take the money and then petition to get more funding from the Special Programming budget.

The only way an organization can get a portion of the $68,000 in the Special Programming pool is to collaborate with other organizations and submit a petition to gain additional funding.

SA members encouraged students to collaborate with UU, since they get a large portion of the money allocated to student organizations.

A member of each organization was allowed to speak for one minute to explain their organization and why they deserved funding.

Nick Johnson, chairman of SU’s College Republicans, spoke numerous times throughout the Monday meeting, expressing his concern with SA giving money to various liberal organizations.

‘NYPIRG gets $3 out of every student fee, and College Republicans doesn’t get anything from SA,’ said Johnson, a junior political science and international relations major. ‘It just shows how this university only supports liberal ideas.’

Celina Tousignant, a senior magazine, psychology and Spanish major, attended the meeting, but shared her thoughts on the allocation of money before Monday’s event.

‘(The National Association of Hispanic Journalists) was lucky to have been allocated money, but I have noticed that minority and underrepresented students on campus are collaborating to get funding,’ said Tousignant, president of NAHJ. ‘We won’t let you think we are being silent, and we will not tolerate this blind injustice. How dare 44 percent of my student fee go to events I don’t feel represent me.’

rseldrid@syr.edu

Published on November 17, 2008 at 12:00 pm