A $975 special money request for a fun-run caused controversy at Wednesday night’s Student Senate meeting.
The Student Bar Association asked the senate for $975 of surplus money to cover a fun-run. Profits from the run will create an endowment scholarship for a law student who recently died.
The first $475 to fund the last organizational effort for the run passed easily. But the other $500 to buy refreshments took a little more time to pass.
Student Sen. Shantell Rice told the senate that, according to ASUO rules in the Green Tape Notebook, incidental fee money cannot be used to buy food for an event that will make a profit.
But Sen. Jereme Gryzbowski disagreed with Rice’s statements and said the senate has given money to numerous events that are for fundraising profit, including last week when the senate approved $3,000 to the International Student Association for its International Week.
“We have a track record of funding cultural events that are fund- raisers in a sense,” he said.
Some senators also said that since the profit will go to an endowment scholarship, it isn’t true fund-raising profit.
In an attempt to avoid the ambiguous rule, senators discussed the idea of transferring $300 into the senate’s outreach account, which currently has $200 in it, then giving the lump $500 sum back to the SBA for the run. This idea increased frustration among the senators who supported giving the money in the first place.
“So we’re laundering,” Senate President Jessica Timpany said of the decision. “This is ridiculous.”
Rice, one of four senators who voted in opposition, said the rule was clear and should be followed.
“I see this as a fund raiser … Obviously we see there’s a rule here and we’re trying to go around it.”
Before adjourning, the senate handled one other monetary matter. With the SBA request granted, the senate had only $3,029 remaining for the term for programs.
This budget, however, was set by the senate at the beginning of the year. They set limits on their spending for each term, leaving $40,000 in surplus. Sen. Scott Kolwitz said last year’s senate had a deficit and the decision was made to not have that happen again.
But with the surplus and money running short for the rest of the term, the senate agreed to retrieve $15,000 of that backup money for programs in need of funds.
A committee was also set up to decide what to do with the other $30,000. Senators were undecided whether to use the money to sponsor an endowment or fund raiser of some kind or let the money roll over for next year’s senate to use.