ASUO Senate heard special requests from 13 student groups Wednesday night; though, by far, the most contentious item on the agenda was a request from KWVA, the campus radio station. After dealing out a net sum of $16,063 from Senate’s surplus account, University freshman Manny Garcia was confirmed to fill Senate Seat 8.
The original KWVA request was for $13,465 from Senate’s surplus account, but KWVA representative Lex Chase and others asked for just $6,674 when they appeared before Senate. The request is an emergency measure for the “KWVA Birthday Bash” event, the Friday concert of the five-day Mallard Madness festival happening next week, headlined by RJD2, a DJ and Eugene native.
The request was amended three times before being approved at the starting number of $6,674. Much of the confusion senators dealt with stemmed from an unclear budget that was pieced together from the various campus groups putting on the festival, while the contention was fueled by the fact that the event starts next Wednesday, leaving Senate little time to make a call.
“Coming a week before (the event) with a budget that doesn’t make sense to us is very, very confusing,” ASUO Sen. Kerry Snodgrass said. “I really commend all the senators who worked tonight to understand the budget … but I personally think it’s unfair to the groups that come before us that are prepared.”
KWVA representatives confirmed that without the money, which is necessary for the Friday proceedings as it pays for certain items stipulated in the contract with the artist, the Friday concert would not happen and RJD2 would not perform.
“We’ve been working really hard to exhaust all other options. We didn’t want to have to come to you guys,” Chase said. “Basically if we don’t get around the amount that we need, RJD2 is not going to happen. This is really confusing for us. We’re trying to work through this as diligently as we can.”
Circolo Italiano, Jewish Student Union, Dance Oregon and the executive each moved money between their line items because of past events not requiring the full amount they were allocated.
Incidentally, JSU’s request moved three of its line items into its “Mallard Madness” line item. JSU, the original organizer of the May concert, received the initial $65,000 influx from the Over-realized Fund to book headliners for the concerts and has handled much of the financial aspects of the festival.
Dance Oregon’s request was brought to Senate at the previous meeting, but senators tabled it to this week, requesting the group come back with a clearer line item request. The request was approved with seven senators approving, two opposing and seven abstaining from voting.
Garcia, who was appointed to Seat 8 by ASUO President Amelie Rousseau, is an intern with the Climate Justice League and has been working directly with its Take Back the Tap campaign. Most recently, he participated in the presentation for University Vice President for Finance and Administration Frances Dyke, where the group got a favorable response from the administration present for its suggested bottle-ban policy.
He has also volunteered directly with the ASUO. Several senators were positive about his appointment.
“I have seen him come before (to Senate); he’s really well-educated,” Sen. Brian Powell said, explaining why he intended to confirm Garcia.
Senate chair Zachary Stark-MacMillan, a CJL member, praised Garcia’s experience in the student sustainability-focused group.
“One thing I want to say about Manny: When we had a really long discussion about whether we should put a sponsorship link on our site, he disagreed (because of) one thing the sponsorship company did,” Stark-MacMillan said. “He voiced his opinion; that said a lot about him.”
Clark Honors College Student Association, Coalition Against Environmental Racism, Mills International Center, Native American Student Union, and Chinese Students and Scholars Association also requested funds. With the exception of the CSSA request, they passed with relatively minimal opposition.
In the CSSA request, $1,250 of the $1,400 request went to pay for rental fees. This was called into question and confused senators until they learned that the group had rented Eugene music venue WOW Hall for its “Chinese Graduate Prom Night” event.
If the event was held on campus, senators said, group members could have saved much more money.
Nevertheless, because the group had already rented the venue, the Senate approved a motion that gave the group $150 to pay for the other costs associated with the event and encouraged the group to charge attendees to make up the venue costs. The vote to approve passed with eight senators in favor, seven opposed and one abstaining.
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