Let the ASUO Executive’s message ring across campus: Major student groups, your funding is not safe.
Last week ASUO President Jared Axelrod, ASUO Vice President Juliana Guzman and ASUO Finance Coordinator Madeline Wigen announced their plans to completely cut the Oregon Marching Band’s student funding over the next two years. While their proposal would still require approval from the Programs Finance Committee and indirectly the Student Senate, the ASUO Executive’s intentions to significantly cut student programs in order to lower the incidental fee are now quite clear. The fee, which has been rising for several years, now stands at more than $200 per student, per term.
The Emerald supports Axelrod’s, Guzman’s and Wigen’s efforts to find creative budgeting solutions in their effort to decrease the student incidental fee. Nevertheless, dropping the burden of these budget cuts on one student organization is hardly fair, especially an organization as beloved as the marching band. We would like to see the ASUO devise means for reasonable relief from expensive fees, but we do not support eliminating an entire group’s funding.
The change proposed by executive would cut 100 percent of the student fees allocated to the Oregon Marching Band over the next two years, for a total loss of $115,021. While the OMB is funded by the Department of Athletics and is periodically given grants from the School of Music and Dance, the student funds in question represent a significant portion of its annual budget. Cutting such a large percentage of any organization’s budget would seriously inhibit its ability to function.
There are well over 200 different student organizations that receive funding from the ASUO. While many are recognized staples of University life, such as the marching band, others range in obscurity; from the Gaming Club to the Argentine Tango Club. If cuts are indeed absolutely necessary, the ASUO should cut funds across the board, instead of targeting the largest student group on campus. It is very important for the executive to keep the use of student funds in perspective, allocating them appropriately to organizations with wide-reaching student support. The OMB has more than 240 members and is highly visible to many more at sporting events.
Furthermore, we oppose the manner in which these proposed funding cuts were approached by the ASUO executive. Our reporter received word of the cuts before the marching band was notified at all. If the ASUO truly exists to serve students and operate transparently, its executive should have taken a more prudent course of action regarding their internal communications.
But regardless of our opposition to this funding cut, the ASUO Executive will find it difficult to put its plan into action. The Green Tape Notebook, the handbook that contains laws the executive must follow, states that groups’ funding can only be decreased by a maximum of 25 percent each year, unless the appropriate Finance Committee approves the cuts unanimously. The executive should abide by this rule and keep the cuts less than 25 percent and spread them out more fairly among student groups.