I have been a controller in the ASUO offices for three years. Through this time, I have learned a lot about our student government, the structure, the finances and of course, the politics. I am writing this article because I am hoping to give some insight based on my experience and based on some recent observations. I have tried to stay out of the politics, but this week, with all of the discussion I’ve heard about budgets and benchmark, I could not help but attend the most recent senate meeting.
What drew me to the Senate meeting was the fear of further decrease to already low PFC benchmark. For those of you that don’t know, the benchmark is a proposed increase or decrease to budgets of the three bodies for the following year. The bodies that are supported financially by the incidental fee are the Athletic Department Finance Committee (ADFC), the EMU Board and the Programs Finance Committee (PFC). This year, the Senate has made clear that they want to keep the incidental fee low and therefore be conservative in the allocation of the more than $10 million our fees create. Since our senators have decided to do this, I think that we should all support them in their efforts to do so.
That being said, there are some issues leading senators in the wrong direction and I am sincerely worried that the impact will be greater than many of them realize. I do not have a political agenda, so please take what I say seriously. I am simply a fee-paying student who has been around for a while. I have had many conversations with all sides of the issue and would be disheartened to see things go the way I see them going. Senators, I beg of you, do not underestimate the value of student programs. Whether you are discussing International Night, the Drag Show, concerts, or football games, you are dealing with events that take a lot of work to put on, many people are involved with and for the people that enjoy these various activities, are extremely important to their overall college experience. It will be a mistake, if as a body, the Senate decides that its policies only apply to certain activities. Whatever the Senate does, it must do it universally, across the board, or it will be failing us all as the student representatives that it supposedly is.
The model has been made for the PFC allocation process to be incredibly conservative this year and assuming it sticks to that, it will have done a fabulous job to keep the incidental fee as low as it can. Similarly for the ADFC and the EMU Board, if the group does what is in its power to make conservative allocations, it too will have done its jobs, like it said at the beginning of the year and the incidental fee will stay as low as it can be. Senate needs to acknowledge these attempts, maybe observe a little of what the others are doing and regardless of benchmarks, approve what it believes to be reasonable, but conservative, allocations. Budget season will be long and stressful no matter what happens, but if everyone works together, makes compromises and applies policies universally, the stress level can be reduced.
Finally, I would like to briefly talk about the Senate meeting this week. Senators, I commend you on the depths of your discussions along with the passionate content of what you all have to say. That will be very important as this whole process continues. I do not personally agree with your final decision of benchmarks, but I am hopeful that in the end, you will be able to make educated decisions on the final budgets based on how they are presented to you.
As for the red corner, I was disgusted. There isn’t the intelligence that there used to be. Former Sen. Dallas Brown, you are the definition of an antagonist. Everything you do and say has personal vendetta written all over it. If you ever become half the leader that President Axelrod is, consider yourself lucky.
And as for your wingman with his computer: He said something the other night I would like to briefly confront. He wanted people to consider spending over-realized money on bringing down the incidental fee. This idea, however, is a temporary solution to an ongoing problem. How are the students going to feel two or three years from now when the incidental fee rises by 15 percent? Over-realized money is like inheritance money, that came from a collective. The over-realized is a completely separate issue and it needs to be spent on something for the collective, not just for one or two years of a slightly cheaper incidental fee. It should be for something memorable, something that everyone can be proud of.
Will Richard is an ASUO controller for groups E-J
Senate should create reasonable solution to group funding issue
Daily Emerald
November 30, 2006
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