Cimmeron Gillespie’s column about fiscal conservatism misses a number of key points which may lead the reader to inaccurate conclusions.
There are likely a number of reasons (duplication of services, legal issues, etc.) behind why the Sexual Assault Support Services contract has not yet been approved by the administration. To try to attribute the delay entirely to “fiscal conservatism” is a logical stretch at best (because the funding mechanism has already been proposed by the ASUO) and dishonest at worst. With that said, the prevalence of sexual assault that Gillespie outlined suggests the program should probably be approved by the administration.
The real problems with Gillespie’s article lie in his demonization of fiscal conservatism. As if ensuring student dollars are being spent wisely is a horrible idea! This University has one of the highest student incidental fees in the country. It is no stretch of the imagination to think that possibly the incidental fee is not being used properly or efficiently in all situations.
He states the McCafferty/Williams campaign should focus on tuition instead of the incidental fee to lower student costs. Unfortunately, the ASUO has little (as in basically zero) influence over tuition levels, not to mention that University professors are already the lowest paid in the state. What the ASUO does control is the incidental fee, the main focus of the Reality Check slate.
Lastly, Gillespie laments the decrease in over-realized funds last year, which was probably one of the single biggest money-saving moves ever taken by the ASUO. The over-realized fund only existed because more money had been taken from students than could be spent.
While the over-realized funds were often put to good use, it was also a perennial money grab during which various organizations tried to fund parties, trips and other frivolous expenditures. University programs need to budget better instead of relying on a huge pile of student cash to fall back on at the end of the year.