Campus student groups can finally begin to plan events for next fall.

The Student Association distributed the student activity fee among campus organizations, approving all of the Finance Board’s recommendations for the fall 2007 semester at Monday night’s weekly meeting.

Representatives from each group were allowed to attend the meeting to state whether they approved of the board’s recommendations, as well as ask questions about the decisions. The process occurs every semester, and part of the 2007-08 budget was set aside for the spring.

The organizations can appeal recommendations at SA’s next meeting April 30. They can also apply for money from the special programming fund, which is available to all student groups throughout the semester.

The requests that received none or only partial funding did so because of budget constraints, said Comptroller Mike Rizzolo. The total sum of the requests, as is often the case, slightly exceeded the expected 2007-08 budget of more than $1.9 million.

In light of the large request, the groups had been asked during the deliberations prior to Monday to indicate an order of preference for their requests. This helped the board narrow down their recommendations, Rizzolo said.

Programming

Of the $1.9 million budget, the board designated $672,552 for the programming budget next semester. An identical sum was set aside for spring programming, while the remainder of the total budget went toward the operating budgets.

With the board setting aside a small sum for appeals, SA approved requests totaling $640,260 of the fall programming budget – mostly for speakers, concerts, shows, festivities and publications.

A few groups were denied programming money because they ran afoul of restrictions and procedural rules. Three groups did not receive money because they lacked the proper signatures on their forms.

‘It’s a shame that we didn’t get funding because of one signature,’ said Angel Rosado, chairman of public relations for La LUCHA, one of the three groups who were denied based on signatures. ‘It’s a shame that one of the few Latino groups on campus didn’t get funding.’

Because of the technicality, the board recommended La LUCHA not receive funding for all four of its requests, which included money to publish its magazine, La Voz, and to sponsor several events.

The Traditions Commission also found all of its requests denied, which included funding for several homecoming events.

Darryl Patteson, one of the event’s tri-chairs, expressed his disappointment that SA would not involve itself in homecoming, a sentiment echoed by University Union President Clarence Cross.

‘It’s very troubling when SA doesn’t support homecoming,’ he said.

UU representatives were also concerned about some of the board’s decisions, particularly with regards to the UU Comedy Series. The board recommended funding only one of three speakers requested by UU Comedy.

UU Comedy Director Mike Wanetik said he was disappointed with what his division had received, noting that it had done well last semester without receiving funding during the budget process.

Last semester, UU Comedy’s denied funding was the result of a missed signature, said Rizzolo after the meeting, adding it had been funded through special programming.

‘On behalf of UU Comedy, we appreciate the funds, but we will be looking to special programming,’ said Zach Wortzel, UU Comedy co-director for next year.

Other groups who had requests that received partial or no funding said they had similar intentions to either rely on special programming or to appeal the decision next week.

However, the meeting was also punctuated by organizations thanking SA and the Finance Board for receiving funds.

Operating Budget and Appeals

The assembly also approved $557,986 for the operating budget, which goes to seven student-based organizations and one program, all of which operate on a yearly budget rather than a per-semester one.

None of the organizations, which included SA, Citrus TV, the Student Readership Program and WERW, objected to what was allocated to them; though in several cases it was less than requested.

SA, for example, only received $49,650 of the $107,400 it had requested.

Student Legal Services and the New York Public Interest Research Group, two of the organizations that are on the operating budget, were granted all the money they requested because they have contracts through SA that entitle them to a set budget per semester.

NYPIRG received $75,000, while Legal Services received $181,173, which is adjusted each year for inflation and cost-of-living increases.

A total of $32,292 had been set aside for appeals. Groups can petition for part of this sum at next week’s meeting, which is at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 30 in Maxwell Auditorium. This will be SA’s last meeting of the semester.

Published on April 28, 2007 at 12:00 pm