The Oregon Marching Band would lose all of the more than $115,000 it receives from student fees over the next two years if a new plan released by student government Wednesday night succeeds.
The plan, contained in an Oct. 6 memo from the top three members of the ASUO Executive, calls for decreasing the band’s budget by 100 percent as a way to cut costs for students.
“The purpose of this memo is to ask for your support in this potentially contentious issue,” the memo says. “With enough support, the ASUO as a whole can succeed in potentially level-funding or even decreasing the Incidental fee for 2007-2008, an enormous victory for students at the University of Oregon.”
Any cuts would have to be approved by the Programs Finance Committee and ultimately the entire Student Senate this year.
The potential cut came as a surprise to members of the band. Michael Suskin, Oregon Marching Band Council president, declined to comment late Wednesday night until OMB leaders could learn more about the proposal.
The ASUO gave the band $115,021 for the 2005-06 school year, and the band recently requested an additional $20,000 from Senate surplus funds to cover the costs of replacing music equipment, according to the memo.
The band also receives funding from two other sources, the Athletics Department and the School of Music and Dance, the memo says.
University student Sarah Nelson, sousaphone section leader for the band, said the band has faced budget cuts “pretty much every year” during her five-year tenure in the band, resulting in
infrastructure cuts.
Madeline Wigen, ASUO finance coordinator, said at the meeting that the Executive had not spoken to the band prior to sending out the memo.
“This is about reappropriating resources,” Wigen said, adding that the Executive was not interested in eliminating the marching band.
She also said there was a discrepancy in the release because, “We wanted people to know within the ASUO.”
“Student leaders should know about this, especially the marching band should have been informed,” Sen. Athan Papailiou said after the meeting.
“I think there are many ways we can control the incidental fee, and I’m surprised the marching band wasn’t informed about the memo,” he said. “It’s disappointing to see this matter isn’t transparent.”
After the meeting, Sen. Natalie Kinsey said the Executive should have talked to the band before making the proposal.
“They still have a lot of explaining to do,” she said.
“I was told it was a project the finance coordinator was working on last year, so it’s nothing new. It’s just new to us.”
Student fees increased $13 from the 2005-06 school year to this year. Students will pay $202 per term for the 2006-07 school year, according to the ASUO.
The memo also states that the University is one of three colleges in the Pacific 10 Conference that provides any funding for its marching band with student fees.
The band is the largest student group on campus, with over 240 members, according to the band’s Web site.
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News Editor Parker Howell contributed to this report.