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University of Wisconsin’s student government approved funding for a Chinese New Year event at a meeting Wednesday.
Associated Students of Madison’s Student Council approved the Finance Committee’s decision from Tuesday night to provide an event grant to the Chinese Student and Scholar Association.
The event grant will provide funding for the CSSA’s 2013 Chinese New Year Spring Festival Gala.
ASM Finance Committee Chair, Andrew Kidd, was asked to present the legislation on behalf of the Chinese Student and Scholar Association.
Originally, the Finance Committee was going to provide the CCSA with a total of $16,807 in event grant funding. However, Student Council voted to reduce that number to $14,107 at Wednesday’s meeting.
Kidd said the Finance Committee decided to reduce the grant by $2,700 because that money was originally designated for Honoraria and Fees.
At a Finance Committee meeting on Tuesday, it was discovered that, as part of the originally allotted $2,700, the CCSA would use the money to hire professionals to train for a dance to be performed at the Chinese New Year Spring Festival Gala.
“Through further talk with the organization we found that part of the costs would be hiring professionals to help them train and that was part of the cost of Honoraria,” said Kidd. “This does not fall under our policies.”
Kidd said the issue is that a registered student organization is applying for an event grant. With the Honoraria fees he said they are more or less hiring another registered student organization to format the event. But, he said those organizations are paying another person to train them from the Honoraria they are receiving.
Kidd said it would be different if it were the Chinese Student and Scholar Association themselves using the funding, but when they start hiring others it becomes disorganized and confusing.
Student Council passed the legislation unanimously, successfully providing funding for the CSSA’s Spring Festival Gala.
The grant allows for $500 for printing, $630 for advertising, $14,727 for space and equipment rental and $250 for other costs. The total funding is over 2 percent of the total ASM event grant budget.
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