Program Finance Committee Sen. Colin Andries coined a mantra that would be oft-repeated by he and other senators at Saturday’s PFC hearing.
“No budget, no-show equals no funds,” he said.
Andries is jokingly known as the senator who can read printed material aloud “faster than an auctioneer on speed.” But he is also adept at summarizing the budgetary demise of those groups who fail to show up for their scheduled PFC budget hearing.
The Pre-Law Society, House of Film, Latin American Caribbean Students Association, Model U.N., Pacific Wine-Law Society and the Gaming Club all lost their proposed 2004-05 budgets before the end of the hearings.
PFC Chairman Adrian Gilmore said all groups, defunded or not, have five days to appeal the PFC’s decision.
During the budget hearing for the Survival Center, a self-described “umbrella organization” for social activist groups, Sen. Joe Snyder responded to the group’s request for additional stipend funds without a request for additional programming funds.
“I would rather see a request for an increase in programming funds than a request to put more money in your pockets,” Snyder said.
Survival Center member Nate Oester defended the organization’s reasoning.
“We can’t spend as much time on programming without the increase in stipends,” he said.
He added that each Survival Center co-director is spending much more in time and effort than their stipend category dictates.
“It feels different to have someone come in and say, ‘We want the money over helping the groups and students,’” Andries said.
During lengthy haggling by senate members, the executive controller suggested that a stipend increase for the Survival Center would be in line with what the PFC has done for similar organizations, such as OSPIRG, which received a 14.6 percent budget increase Thursday.
The PFC settled on a budget of $21,490 for the Survival Center; an increase of 12.3 percent.
The Oregon Voice, which is printed twice per term, came to its PFC budget hearing expecting little because of the state’s current economic woes. The staff left the meeting
pleasantly surprised after the PFC voted for an 11.4 percent increase for a budget of $9,862.
“Although it’s not everything we’d like to have, we think it’s reasonable, and we can prove ourselves to you guys further in the future,” Oregon Voice editor in chief Ryan Bornheimer told PFC.
Other organizations that received budget increases include the Athletic Department Finance Committee, University Theater, Sexual Assault Support Services, the Multicultural Center and the Ecological Design Center.
ADFC, an organization that negotiates with the athletic department for student seating at university athletic events, received a budget of $3,005, a 1.7 percent increase.
Joseph Gilg, development director for the University Theater, touted its programming and ability to use PFC funding to provide discounted tickets to University students. PFC decided to increase the University Theater’s budget to $30,750, a 3.8 percent increase.
SASS, an organization dedicated to sexual assault prevention and education, received a budget of $52,090 for an increase of 4.8 percent.
Steve Morozumi, director of the Multicultural Center, said the center is involved in developing the University’s five-year diversity plan. PFC increased MCC’s budget to $91,129, an increase of 7.5 percent.
The Ecological Design Center, an organization that promotes sustainable building designs, received an increase of 14.2 percent for a budget of $20,986.
PFC tabled The Outlaws’ — the Lesbian and Gay Law Students Association — budget because of a scheduling miscommunication.