The ASUO Student Senate approved nearly $4.9 million in allocations at a Wednesday night meeting, funding the ASUO Programs Finance Committee’s 2004-05 recommendations for more than 120 incidental fee-funded student groups. PFC’s budget drew controversy because some senators said the allocation was too much and would result in higher incidental fees next year.
“That’s a heck of a lot of growth,” Senate Vice President Kevin Day said. “I think we can cut some of that.”
PFC members countered that they allocated less money this year than provided for by the Senate benchmark. The benchmark, which was set in November, allowed for a 3.4 percent increase in funding from 2003-04. PFC’s proposed budget is an increase of 1.9 percent from the current budget.
“Any growth that we gave (student groups) was within the bounds Senate set for us,” PFC Chairman Adrian Gilmore said.
PFC’s budget does not take into account the budget of the University Counseling and Testing Center. The service will not be funded by PFC next year; it will be assessed as a health fee that students pay.
PFC member Colin Andries said the Senate was being “asinine” by criticizing the committee even though PFC spent less money than provided for by the benchmark. He said senators should have expressed their concerns about the benchmark in November rather than after PFC finished its work.
Senate Ombudsman Mike Sherman said he had a responsibility to students to fix what may have been a mistake — the benchmark that Senate set in November — even if it was late in the allocation process.
“I realize it may seem like we’re going back on our word,” Sherman said. “Any good leader will recognize his mistakes, admit his mistakes, then try to fix them. I think that’s just being a good leader.”
The Emerald’s budget proved the most controversial of PFC’s allocations. The ASUO Executive issued a memo urging senators to “send the PFC back to committee for further consideration.” The Emerald’s budget was the only one referenced in the memo.
ASUO Vice President Eddy Morales said the newspaper should receive funding based on its internal readership survey, which would provide a “more concrete formula.”
Oregon Commentator Editor in Chief Tim Dreier, an economics major, said the readership survey would not be an appropriate funding model for the Emerald.
“You can’t take a survey that’s done for one specific purpose and use it for another specific purpose,” Dreier said.
Morales also expressed concern that students pay for the newspaper to be distributed off campus.
“We don’t think it’s a bad thing that non-students read the Emerald,” Morales said. “(But) we don’t think that we should be paying for it.”
Emerald Editor in Chief Brad Schmidt said Morales’ position was inconsistent because he had not challenged other groups, including campus radio station KWVA and OSPIRG, which also benefit off-campus users. Schmidt added that the Emerald was the only group out of more than 120 student groups to have its budget vetoed and later brought to the Senate’s attention.
Schmidt said the ASUO Executive has twice attempted to block the Emerald’s budget without notifying the newspaper, and he asked the Senate to consider if Morales had a conflict of interest with the newspaper’s budget. The Emerald has reported extensively on Morales’ alleged assault of a University student.
The Emerald’s budget was approved along with the other incidental fee-funded groups.
The Senate, in the three-and-a-half hour meeting, also confirmed ASUO President Maddy Melton’s nominations to the ASUO Constitution Court. Randy Derrick, Andrea Hall and Stefan Myers will take their seats on the court, despite rumblings that the appointments leave the court with only two law students — the minimum mandated by the ASUO Constitution — who will graduate in June.
KWVA’s controversial request for $31,794 to finish its remodel was re-approved by the Senate. The funds, which the Senate allocated last week from surplus only to encounter a veto by the ASUO Executive, will come from the overrealized fund instead of surplus.
The Senate also approved a $3,327 request made by the University Dance Team to send the group to national dance championships in Daytona Beach, Fla. The Senate expressed dismay that EMU Director Dusty Miller declined to release funds to pay for the trip.
The Criminal Law Association also received a $50 food account transfer to pay for pizza when the group hosts guest speakers, and the Community Internship Program received $1,936 to bring fifth-grade children to campus for a visit.