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SSFC approves WISPIRG budget at thousands less
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The Wisconsin Student Public Interest Research Group will be allotted thousands of dollars less than requested for next year’s budget as a result of the Student Services Finance Committee’s budget decision Monday.
SSFC approved about $126,000 for WISPIRG’s 2009-10 budget, which is almost $1,300 less than this year’s budget and $5,700 less than what WISPIRG requested. Part of the decrease in funding is due to several cuts SSFC made in membership fees and recruitment outreach programs.
SSFC Vice Chair Carl Fergus proposed the cut in membership fees, which pays salaries for two employees to hire staff and organize job fairs.
“It’s fiscally irresponsible for us to pay this fee when they may or may not hire new staff,” Fergus said.
Wunk Sheek, a Native American student organization, had its budget approved at just over $116,000. SSFC cut all funding from the Veteran’s Day powwow, while cutting some funding from the spring powwow and drumming groups.
Fergus also proposed the cuts for Wunk Sheek, and said SSFC needs to take the goal of the group into consideration when making their budget decisions.
“We need to look at, is this program important to their mission statement or is it just tangential?” Fergus said.
SSFC Secretary Kyle Szarzynski, also a Badger Herald columnist, opposed the cut to the Veteran’s Day powwow because he thought it was appropriate to have funding for both powwows, not just one.
“There’s nothing innately irresponsible about having two events similar in nature,” Szarzynski said. “It doesn’t seem any different than an organization inviting two speakers.”
SSFC also conducted budget hearings for Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan and the new student group Wisconsin Student Lobby. WSL President Jeff Wright said the majority of the group’s efforts go to advocacy training for other student groups, although WSL also lobbies occasionally.
“The advocacy portion and the lobbying portion are interlinked because the advocacy parts of our program are going to be strengthened by our lobby,” Wright said.
WSL is asking for $69,000 for next year’s budget. MEChA is a student group that promotes education and awareness of Chicano and Mexican culture and history on the University of Wisconsin campus.
According to MEChA Co-Chair Steve Pereire, the funds the group is requesting will be used for supplies, apparel and to bring speakers and other performers to campus. He said they are requesting more money than last year because they are aiming to attract larger audiences and a more diverse range of speakers than in previous years. Their total budget request is about $80,000 — about a $20,500 increase from last year, according to SSFC Chair Kurt Gosselin.
SSFC postponed the budget decision for the Campus Women’s Center funding. The CWC is requesting a budget of about $107,000 for 2009-10, an increase of $24,000 from last year, according to SSFC member Brandon Williams.
CWC Volunteer Coordinator Natalia Washington said part of the increase for funding CWC is due to their desire to create T-shirts for their group.
“The Campus Women’s Center really needs a public face to represent to the community as far as advertising goes,” Washington said. “When we’re tabling, students walking by can point to our table and say, ‘That’s the Campus Women’s Center, I can recognize them.’”
SSFC will make the budget decisions for CWC, WSL, and MEChA at their Oct. 30 meeting.
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Why is any of this stuff getting funded? Make the organizations raise their own fees and stop taking so much from our wallets. Those of us who pay our own way here can’t afford these frivolities.
$24,000 t-shirts, eh?
$300 for t-shirts. That is SSFC’s limit for apparel.
the $24000 is really not about the t-shirts, that is like $100 dollars of the budget. the cwc is trying to create a new paid staff position as well as increase funding for speakers and other campus events.
8:45 - The combined cost of these four groups from your pocket equates to approximately two cents per day. - 2 cents per day is a small price to pay for effective advocacy training programs and women’s empowerment and support programs.
10:09 - The t-shirt request in CWC’s budget is $300. This constitutes 0.28% (yes zero point two eight percent) of their entire budget. The most notable increase is in their request for additional printing to cover their magazine printing costs (approximately a $5,000 increase)
-SSFC Chair Kurt M. Gosselin