On Thursday, the ASUO Programs Finance Committee made a $150,000 budget cut to the Career Center for its largest reduction in funding thus far in the budget recall process.
The Career Center’s budget dropped from the $334,788 it was previously awarded to $184,788 for the 2002-03 year.
“We decided not to cut programs as much as ballot measures because they have other sources of funding,” PFC member Nadia Hasan said.
The Career Center has a fee elimination fund previously allocated via ballot measure for a new building that was never constructed. The fee elimination fund is generated by a $3 per student, per term fee, and has been used the past five years as a funding source for the Career Center.
Career Center director Larry Smith said, “I want to work collaboratively and be a good steward of PFC money, but reductions stay there year after year, and I don’t want to designate valuable programs.”
PFC voted against cutting the Lane Transit District’s budget at this time because it is a service to many students.
“If any student does not use any other part of the incidental fee, they will use this service,” PFC member Joe Streckert said.
The University Counseling and Testing Center received a $14,022 budget cut, changing its budget from $277,751 to $263,729 for the 2002-03 year.
PFC made a $2,500 cut to the Campus Recycling budget, giving them a new allocation of $113,126, down from its previously awarded $115,626.
PFC also reduced the United States Student Association’s conference line item because PFC believed the group could do fundraising for conferences, giving them a new budget of $1,100, down from its original $2,500.
Asian-Pacific American Law Student Association received a budget reduction of $733 in its stipend, changing its budget from $2,223 to $1,450.
Asian-Pacific American Student Union budget decreased as well, from $14,589 to $13,607. PFC also reduced the Coalition Against Environmental Racism’s budget from $15,993 to $15,494.
The Pre-Dental Club was granted a budget of $261 for the 2002-03 year, a 25 percent decrease from the 2001-02 year. Model UN received a budget of $1,620 for the 2002-03 year, a 45.2 percent decrease from the 2001-02 year.
The PFC voted unanimously against DELTA-GSO’s appeal because the group missed the budget submission deadline for the 2002-03 year, and it did not use the money previously allocated to its budget until the end of last fiscal year.