Questions and concerns regarding stipend job positions continued at Tuesday’s Programs Finance Committee meeting, pushing some budget hearings back nearly an hour.
The first half of the meeting appeared to be a continuation of Monday’s meeting when PFC members could not come to a consensus on how to approve stipend job positions. The Black Law Students Association’s proposal ignited the quandary.
PFC Chair Persis Pohowalla, who said she was BLSA’s controller last year, recommended the group
receive no stipend position because she “saw no leadership and poor spending” at that time.
Vice Chair Mason Quiroz said he didn’t see any reason not to approve the stipend position because the group met ASUO requirements. Quiroz added that funding shouldn’t be based on a group’s previously poor spending record.
PFC member Jael Anker-Lagos questioned PFC’s consistency in
approving stipend positions, while Quiroz advocated approving the
positions because they fall within ASUO guidelines.
“I still don’t approve of these job descriptions, and I wouldn’t pay someone to do these duties. All they’ve done is gone to conferences,” ASUO Controller Rosie Sweetman said.
After BLSA representatives emphasized the growth and youth of their group, Anker-Lagos made an amendment to approve the budget with no increase from last year.
ASUO Senator Kevin Day disagreed with the amendment.
“You have gone back on your word with this amendment. If I recall correctly, in the past two meetings you’ve said you wouldn’t consider new leadership of groups when approving budgets,” he said.
Anker-Lagos recalled the amendment and a budget was finally passed for BLSA of $1,062, a 9.6 percent decrease from last year.
The Asian Pacific Law Student Association budget generated similar discussion and controversy. Pohowalla recommended not approving a stipend position, while Quiroz advocated approving the position.
The APLS defended the stipend position by stressing the limited time law students have for extra-curricular activities and the expenses incurred organizing their events.
However, Sweetman supported Pohowalla’s recommendation.
“I do not approve of the job descriptions. I do not think they should be doing the work to get paid, but to contribute to the cultural enrichment on campus,” she said.
Day strongly recommended the PFC “sit down and figure out how to evaluate the stipend position so this conversation doesn’t continue to arise in front of every group.”
Minutes later the room was silent and the meeting seemed to halt.
“I feel like the PFC is in a position to force something simply because we just can’t get it together right now,” Quiroz said.
In the end, APLS agreed to have its stipend funds transferred to programming funds and a budget was passed of $1,941, a 21.48 percent decrease from last year.
The Hong Kong Student Association’s budget hearing brought a new mood to the room, largely because of its organized proposal.
The PFC commended HKSA for spending 98 percent of last year’s budget and fundraising over half of it.
“They definitely deserve more of an increase for their spending,” Quiroz said.
The PFC passed a budget of $3,649, increasing it 22.2 percent from last year.
The Korean Student Association’s budget proposal seemed to top the charts Tuesday night. KSA raised more than $3,000 last year, almost tripling last year’s budget.
The PFC passed a budget of $2,836, an increase of 101 percent.
“This is a huge increase, and we would give you more if we could,” Quiroz said.
The Chinese Student Scholars Association requested a budget increase for its Chinese New Year event to be held at a better location. The PFC passed a budget of $3,270, a 2.39 percent increase from last year.
The Alternative Dispute Resolution Advocates requested a $1,000 increase from its previous budget of $300 in an effort to send members to a regional mediation competition in March.
The PFC suggested motor pool as a means of traveling to the competition instead of by air and passed a budget of $530, an increase of 76.6 percent from last year.
The Association of Anthropology Graduate Students received a budget approval of $354, an 18 percent increase from last year.

Jordan Thierry is a freelance reporter for the Daily Emerald