In this season of seg-fee cutting and viewpoint-neutrality fights, we cannot be accused of only targeting a few groups. We have implored SSFC to make cuts to group budgets across the board, mainly to huge salary and staff increases and superfluous equipment requests. We have called for groups including ALPS, Legal Information Center, WisPIRG, and SAFEwalk to reduce or eliminate altogether their dependency on students’ pocketbooks. Our suggestion for tonight’s Multicultural Student Coalition budget decision is no different.
MCSC had the highest and, frankly, most ridiculous increase in its budget last year with an increase of $412,636. Some of MCSC’s strongest rationales for last year’s proposal were the bevy of supposed “one-time increases” such as construction of the new off-campus space the group has yet to move into and the purchase of sophisticated computer equipment.
Such claims proved to be a farce.
Add up all of those costs originally ear-marked as “one-time” increases for construction alone and MCSC should be reducing its budget by far more than the 1 percent — or $3,000 — that the group is proposing now. Rather, it should be closer to $50,000.
This year, just like last, MCSC is asking for $28,000 worth of computers. The group says it needs to equip the new office with the latest technology; members claim they cannot move the computers they use in the Red Gym because other student organizations use them, too.
What MCSC must realize is that there are student organizations on campus whose missions and results have been far more clearly defined that would be thrilled to receive one functional computer, let alone 10 new ones. If the computers at the Red Gym belong to MCSC, the group should continue to use them at its new facility. The assertion that students should shell out more dough so every staff member at MCSC can have a brand-new Dell is ludicrous.
Speaking of staff members, MCSC’s other huge budget request calls for additional staff. Group members want to increase MCSC’s executive staff from two people to five; each person would make $10 per hour. MCSC justifies this by saying it is too hard for two people to manage 24 others and that they are required to deal with the newspapers more than they would like. In addition, members say they need more staff in their services division.
One of the first places SSFC should look to cut, in addition to the computers, is the number of staff members and amount of the salaries MCSC is requesting. It is hard to justify one executive team member supervising only five staffers apiece, just as it is hard to justify the staffers’ $10-an-hour wages.
Another problem MCSC may face is the loss of its sister organization, Diversity Education Specialists. DES was denied eligibility earlier this year. The group is appealing this decision, and MCSC leaders claim confidence that DES will prevail. However, after ASM’s denial of MEChA’s appeal, there is a real possibility that DES resources will not be available to MCSC next year. This scenario has not been addressed by MCSC in its budgeting projections.
MCSC needs to be just as fiscally responsible and accountable as any other student organization on this campus. The budget proposed Wednesday makes no progress in this direction. We again urge SSFC to hold the line on student taxes and chop the pork from MCSC’s funding proposal, as they have done in several previous instances this year.
