The ASUO Programs Finance Committee continued its march toward allocating funding for the 2004-05 school year, approving funding for eight groups totaling $251,428 on Tuesday.
ASUO Legal Services was the biggest winner, receiving $190,295 in funding, an 8.3 percent increase. The extra funding will go mostly toward pay raises of about 2 percent and the addition of health insurance for the assistant director position equivalent to that which state employees receive.
Director of Legal Services Ilona Koleszar described providing health insurance as a matter of “conscience,” and added that Legal Services recovered or saved $38,261 for students fall term through legal action.
The University’s highly successful Forensics Program, which director Peter Mohn said was founded in 1876 and is the oldest student group on campus, received $31,462, an increase of 10 percent. Mohn said the program, a co-curricular activity funded by the ASUO and the Robert D. Clark Honors College, once funded the football team.
Mohn said the increased funding was justified due to restrictions placed on the program’s ability to pay for out-of-state travel with general fund money.
“Any sort of state money we get is limited to in-state travel only,” Mohn said. “I’d love to ask for smaller increases and that’s my goal.”
The ASUO Constitution Court received $4,892 for 2004-2005, a 1.3 percent decrease from this year. Although the court has done little this year, it is the third branch of student government and deserves adequate funding, PFC Chairman Adrian Gilmore said.
“One year nothing will happen, then the next year for some reason there will be a rash of constitutional issues,” Gilmore said. “We don’t want to bankrupt a branch of student government.”
The Coalition Against Environmental Racism, which will host the ninth annual Environmental Justice Conference Jan. 23 through Jan. 25, received a budget of $13,739, a decrease of 10.1 percent. The coalition hopes to snare a national speaker for its conference and perhaps for another event as well.
PFC decided to fund the Chinese Student Association, which will hold China Night Feb. 1, at $7,735, a 14.1 percent increase.
“We have been experiencing a very severe budget crisis this year,” CSA member Michelle Jin said, adding that the group had a “dire need” for the funding.
Dance Oregon, a group that seeks to enhance dance students’ education, received a budget of $3,114, a .06 percent decrease from this year’s budget. The funds will be used to lure guest artists to campus and advocate for dance education, Dance Oregon Treasurer Meg Perkins said.
PFC approved a budget of $278 for the University’s branch of Amnesty International, which did not receive funding for 2003-2004. Representatives of the group said they concentrate on letter-writing campaigns.
The Chess Club received a $63 budget, a 63.8 percent decrease from the 2003-04 school year. The group hopes to play matches online against other chess clubs, and it has already played two top Oregon chess players this year.
Tuesday’s meeting also revealed some tension between PFC and the ASUO Executive.
“I feel that the respect is not flowing down a two-way street,” Gilmore said, minutes before PFC called an executive session.