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Finance committee votes to give themselves raises

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Also by Drew Gascon:

by Drew Gascon

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

The Associated Students of Madison's Student Services Finance Committee approved its own $18,300 budget Monday, including a $40 weekly stipend for members who attend the mandatory two meetings per week.

SSFC chair Alex Gallagher proposed a budget that was increased from previous years by proposing a $40 stipend given weekly to members of the committee. Members would receive the payment based on whether they attended the meetings and if they seemed to have participated and been prepared for them.

The budget, including the stipend, passed with a decisive vote of 5-0, with three abstaining.

Gallagher made several points in defense of his proposed budget, saying the stipend would attract and maintain strong members on the council, a problem which the SFCC has dealt with historically.

He said in his proposal that the stipend would be too low to attract people who would just be on the council for money, but is large enough to "reimburse" less financially fortunate members of the committee who could have spent the roughly six to 12 hours a week both in and out of session required to be an active member differently.

SSFC secretary Kurt Gosselin disagreed with the proposed stipend.

"I do believe that our members deserve compensation for their work," Gosselin said in a phone interview after the meeting. "But I have qualms about approving salaries when we are the ones receiving them."

Other members of the committee agreed with Gosselin, feeling as though the action might be interpreted as lining their own pockets. Dissenters insisted that a proposal be made to the Student Council to approve the stipends, so that SFCC would not be responsible for its own salary increase.

This proposal had the stipend initially removed from the budget by a vote of 2-1, with five abstaining, lowering the SFCC budget from $18,300 to $13,725.

SSFC member Brittany Weigand reintroduced the proposal, feeling as though the Student Council did not understand the duties of SFCC members, opening up the possibility that it would not approve the proposal at all.

"A previous speaker had the concern that the council may not have any idea what we do, and I promise you that they absolutely do not," Weigand said. "I think it's an issue in ASM to know what other committees are doing."

The approved budget will next go into committee to work out the finer details, and the stipends could be removed by senior members of the committee.

Correction: Due to a reporting error, this article should have cited SSFC.

Correction: Due to a reporting error, this article should have said the vote
to eliminate the original stipend was 4 to 3, with 2 abstaining, with
Alex Gallagher voting in affirmative. The proposed $18,300 was cut and
later replaced with a $13,725 member stipend, which was reintroduced
by Jordan Lippert, not Brittany Weigand, and passed by a vote of 5 to
3. We regret these errors.

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Anonymous (December 4, 2007 @ 7:13am):

Why don't we pay everyone to be a part of a campus organization? It's time to recall the entire SSFC and replace them with people who aren't solely acting in their own self-interest.

Anonymous (December 4, 2007 @ 8:02am):

For someone who wants to reduce the amount of Seg. Fees, Alex Gallagher really has nerve to be increasing the salaries of his group.

Anonymous (December 4, 2007 @ 8:31am):

ASM rules dictate that the members voting for the raise cannot receive it next year. So they didn't "give themselves" raises (although it appears that some SSFC members thought this was the case).

I think the $40 payment is a good idea. This committee is responsible for allocating $32 million. This year, and in prior years, the committee has had difficulty attracting and maintaining members.

Having a full committee and having well prepared members, will help ensure that the process is done right and might ultimately save students money.

The organizations that are funded by SSFC pay their employees a $9/hour sallary. SSFC members will be making about $4/hour if this is approved.

This committee is too important to have half of the spots filled. This year was plagued with several members that had to leave the committe because the job took too much time. Members would be more likely to continue if they receive some compensation for their time.

Anonymous (December 4, 2007 @ 12:55pm):

"But I have qualms about approving salaries when we are the ones receiving them."

Few Federal and state legislators have such qualms.

Anonymous (December 4, 2007 @ 1:08pm):

wow, that's pathetic.
students are actually paying other students to serve as mindless bureaucrats?
great.
can i be paid to attend extra-curricular meetings too??????

Anonymous (December 4, 2007 @ 3:24pm):

so let me get this sraight - SSFC denies eligibility to three of the campuses most heavily funded student groups, but manages to throw themselves $40 for perfect attendance at meetings they should be at anyway. ooookayyyyy.

Anonymous (December 4, 2007 @ 7:01pm):

This is such a bunch of Malarky, we pay them to spend our money?!

Anonymous (December 4, 2007 @ 8:26pm):

The opposite of progress is congress...the opposite of SSFC is help the Students at the University of Wisconsin -- Madison tuition bill.
- Germain E. Stemme

Anonymous (December 4, 2007 @ 11:27pm):

If you are all so damn angry about it, you go sit at those meetings 12 hours a week. Have fun!

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