Most of the student groups appealing their Programs Finance Committee allocations for the 2007-08 school year left their appeal hearings with a little more money, but not everyone was happy.
On Thursday, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Alliance came to the hearing to request an extra $266 to fund its “Transgender Day of Remembrance.” Members said the event is a day to commemorate the lives of transgendered people who have been murdered.
The PFC originally allocated $84 for the event, which Opey Freedle, the board representative for the Oregon Student Equal Rights Alliance, said is not even enough to purchase candles for a vigil.
Freedle called the $84 allocation “crumbs” and said that at the original budget hearing, at which the group received a 2.33 percent budget decrease, the PFC told the LGBTQA it should be privileged to not get a bigger cut.
“I reject that,” Freedle said. “You’ve afforded us $84 to remember the lives of people who have been killed. This is a community that doesn’t have privilege.”
In the original budget hearing, the LGBTQA received a budget decrease because it did not spend enough of its money in the 2005-06 school year.
LGBTQA representative Kawa Kuller said that the unspent money was due to a speaker canceling at the last minute for an event held at the end of May. She said that at the original hearing, the point was made that if the speaker had not canceled, the group would have spent the money and would not have had to take a budget decrease.
Kuller said the speaker’s cancellation was beyond the group’s control.
LGBTQA Director John Joo said that the PFC broke “viewpoint neutrality” in the original budget hearing when PFC members told the group that the Multicultural Center also had a speaker cancel at the last minute and was still penalized for not spending that money.
Student Senator Erica Reiko Anderson, who attended the hearing, said that she was on last year’s PFC and said that since there has been no official rule set over what to do for groups whose speakers cancel, the PFC should make decisions for the individual groups and not base allocations on what happened with other programs.
“This group is not the MCC,” she said. “I don’t know what happened with the MCC and frankly, I don’t care.”
Anderson said that the LGBTQA could file grievances against the PFC for basing its budget on what happened with other groups.
PFC Chairman Oscar Guerra said that as chairman, he would take responsibility for letting other PFC members bring up other groups during budget hearings.
“I’ve been lenient on that,” he said.
Guerra said that if a grievance is filed, it should be against him.
LGBTQA members reminded the PFC several more times that if the group’s speaker had not canceled in May, it would have spent all its money. They also reiterated the importance of Transgender Day of Remembrance. Members of the group became emotional during their presentations.
“It’s not that we’re asking for the money for a social event,” Freedle said, raising his voice. “It’s about education and the celebration of lives of people who have been murdered. It’s not even a queer issue, it’s a people issue.”
Student Heather Haggard told the PFC that this event is a human rights issue.
“This event is going to affect my experiences at the University,” Haggard said before she became choked up and sat down.
Guerra told the group that while the PFC is willing to look at other factors, it is under restraints this year.
“It is unfortunately a year where not everyone will receive their request,” he said. “It’s not that this body is saying, ‘We don’t like this line item.’”
In the end, the PFC voted by a 3-2-2 margin to give a small increase and changed the amount for the Transgender Day of Remembrance from $84 to $150.
“It’s not a lot,” said PFC member Chii-San SunOwen. “It’s like another crumb. Hopefully it’s one that will help.”
PFC members Bassel Menzalji and Matt Rose voted against the motion. Guerra abstained and Vice Chairman Micah Kosasa was absent.
OSPIRG
Also on Thursday, the Oregon Student Public Interest Research Group, which had previously been given no increase, requested a 7.8 percent increase, but left with only 1.5 percent – a $1,681 increase over the current budget.
In its original budget hearing, a line item was omitted from the budget PFC members were looking at. This item was for insurance, rent and utilities, some of which pay for the University office, and the rest pays for the Portland office.
PFC member Wannita Nualngam said she didn’t like the idea of student money going to pay for an office off campus.
OSPIRG said the people who work in the Portland office spend their time lobbying – something students are too busy to do.
Linguistics group GLOSS appealed its budget allocation, which the PFC decreased by 29 percent – more than twice the decrease recommended by the ASUO Executive – at the original hearing because the group failed to fundraise and had not spent its entire allocation the previous year. The group is funded in part by the linguistics department, which gives $2,000 for an annual speaker series. The PFC changed its original allocation of $549 to the Executive recommendation and decreased the group’s budget by 13.3 percent, giving GLOSS a final allocation of $686.
The International Law Students Association, whose primary purpose is to publish two annual law journals, was recalled because the PFC illegally decreased the group’s budget by more than 25 percent without a unanimous vote. The group was punished because it spent only 22 percent of its budget in 2005-06. The group’s director, Elijah Van Camp, explained that the group was unable to spend its journal budget because it was finalizing contract negotiations with a publisher.
“I’m asking the PFC not to punish our group for making a good decision at a bad time,” Van Camp said.
The group no longer needs to pay to publish the journals so had hoped to spend its PFC allocation for the journal on a symposium, which Van Camp said will bring the journal more prestigious articles.
The group is holding a symposium this year and currently has the line item in its budget, which Van Camp mentioned in his presentation will be March 16.
The PFC decided to decrease the group’s budget by 13.9 percent, a $450 difference. The final allocation was $2,788.
At Friday’s meeting, the Black Law Students Association appeared for an initial budget hearing. Because the group had turned in its budget late, it had its hearing moved to the very end of the budget cycle. The PFC gave the group a 2.57 percent increase, which is a $30 difference over this year’s budget.
Also on Friday, the ASUO Constitution Court requested an increase in the amount of stipends it receives, but the PFC said that Chief Justice Matt Greene did not bring any new information – a requirement for having an appeal heard – and voted against hearing the appeal.
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