The Programs Finance Committee allocated more than $1 million in incidental fees Tuesday during a relatively quiet night.
Students of the Indian Subcontinent, the first group scheduled, had its hearing postponed because the PFC was unable to establish quorum. The Vietnamese Student Association’s hearing was also postponed because the meeting was running late.
Hearings were held for Recreational Sports, the Student Recreation Center, the United States Student Association and the Law and Entrepreneurship Student Association. The PFC elected to follow the executive recommendation — the funding suggestion ASUO controllers make — on three of the four groups before adjourning for the night at about 10:15 p.m.
PFC Vice Chair Mason Quiroz questioned the necessity of the office coordinator position in the Recreational Sports program, and moved to defund the position, recommending a total budget of $129,008 for the program. Quiroz’s recommendation would have been $23,953 less than the program’s current budget of $152,961 and $24,739 less than the executive recommendation of $153,747.
Quiroz said the fact that students pay incidental fees to the program and then have to pay registration fees if they actually play a sport is unfair, and compared it to double taxation.
“If we were to eliminate (the office coordinator) position, that would open up money so that the students could play for free and wouldn’t have to be charged at all,” Quiroz said. “They’re already paying, basically, just for positions here — not to actually participate in sports. If I’m going to pay for Rec Sports, that’s exactly what I want to pay for.”
Rec Sports Director Brent Harrison said the additional fees help cover the cost of having referees and officials at games and that without funding for the office coordinator position, fees would have to be substantially higher or the program might cease to exist.
“It’s not realistic for someone to inherit the responsibility (of the office coordinator),” Harrison said. “This program would not be able
to function.”
ASUO Controller Christina Diss was critical of the defunding motion.
“We feel that Rec Sports is providing a good service to students,” Diss said. “You’re making this program less efficient. You’ve not been consistent in what you’ve done; I think that this is a really bad motion.
You guys are hurting the
program significantly.”
“Do you really think that taking away the funding for a position because of the fundraising that they do is justified?” PFC Chair Persis Pohowalla asked Quiroz. “I guess I don’t understand why you’re doing this. A lot of contract groups are set up like this.”
PFC member Khanh Le seconded the motion and declined to speak to his second, but after asking Rec Sports representatives several questions, Le amended the motion to
include funding for the position. The funding brought the budget back up to the executive recommendation and the motion passed 3-0-1. Quiroz was not present to vote.
“I think the students like their Rec Sports program,” PFC member Dan Kieffer said. “It may or may not be running as smoothly as possible, but it’s going to continue to be run as it has been run.”
Harrison was pleased with the outcome, even though he was unable to secure $338 above the executive recommendation as he had requested.
“I’m happy it passed,” Harrison said. “I think that Rec Sports is a very valuable program. A large percentage of students participate and I’m appreciative that the PFC and ASUO support this program.”
The rec center received $900,536, a 15.64 percent increase, in a vote of 3-0-2. Some committee members were reluctant to approve the budget because of its size.
Dennis Munroe, director of Physical Activity and Recreation Services, said students pay approximately $20 per term for use of the center.
“The students on this campus have a real bargain,” Munroe said.
Increases in the budget were partially due to the fact that the building has recently been required to establish a reserve fund, which in part will cover unexpected repair costs.
The PFC approved funding for the Survival Center at $21,877 by a vote of 4-0-1, electing to continue funding two positions the executive had recommended eliminating.
The Survival Center uses a model in which all members are co-directors and have equal weight in decisions, which created a discrepancy with the funding model used by the executive.
Quiroz moved to fully fund the positions, rejecting the ASUO stipend model on the grounds that the group should not be hurt just because it’s different.
In other business, the U.S. Student Association received $13,225, a 37 percent increase, to help cover the costs of rising membership and registration fees. The Law and Entrepreneurship Student Association, a first-year ASUO group, was funded at the executive recommendation of $300, the maximum allowed to new groups.

[email protected]