Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

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SSFC hears UWRCF proposal

The Student Services Finance Committee held a meeting Thursday to hear budget proposals from the University of Wisconsin Roman Catholic Foundation, Collegians for a Constructive Tomorrow and Promoting Awareness Victim Empowerment.

UWRCF, whose eligibility had been denied amid much controversy during earlier SSFC proceedings, was able to present their budget proposal after filing and winning their lawsuit against SSFC two weeks ago.

UWRCF Operations Officer Beth Czarnecki said the triumphant lawsuit allowed the SSFC members to be more open toward their budget proposal.

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"I do feel that committee members are much more open to just hearing what we have to say," she said. "And it's really appreciated that they're here to listen to us."

UWRCF received $86,000 in funding from the SSFC last year and their proposed budget for the '06-'07 fiscal year included a total of slightly more than $200,000.

The higher fund total is due to budget alterations including new positions such as librarian, bookkeeper and facility support and increased monetary concentration in advertising.

An issue consistently brought to the table by various SSFC members was how the UWRCF was not classified as a church.

Tim Kruse, UWRCF Director of Development, said the misconception of the UWRCF being a church is understandable, but clarified the religious and educational goals do not classify the organization as a church.

"Because we have a religious orientation, people sometimes confuse us with being a church … but we're not a church, we just happen to have a religious and educational mission," Kruse said. "We're not applying as a church. We're applying as a non-profit foundation."

UWRCF was not alone in asking for an increased budget.

CFACT's proposed budget was a total of approximately $385,000 — an overall increase of 205 percent from last year's funding.

Matt Kurtz, CFACT Campaign Coordinator and Board Member, said one of the reasons for the increase is the exponentially growing number of student members and interns within the organization.

"While we are asking for a 205 percent increase, it should be dually noted that we have had a 1,350 percent increase in student population in our group, which is over six times the percent increase that we're asking for [in] this budget," Kurtz said.

Kurtz also said a CFACT speaker series with more well-known individuals to help educate students is another part of the increase in budget.
"We are trying to bring people in that are very specialized in their fields — sort of the medium tier of popular speakers that people will go see that will bring a great deal of knowledge to the university," Kurtz said.

Totaling $68,000, PAVE's proposed budget increased approximately five percent since last year. Namrata Singh, chair of PAVE, said the higher budget request is largely due to wage increases.

"The increases are due to mostly the base rate of wages [which] have increased from $8.72 to $8.99," Singh said. "So a large part of that is just natural increases for salaries going up."

The Multi-Cultural Student Coalition budget discussion, which in the past has taken two meetings to conclude, started but did not finish before press time.

Also, budget proposals from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and El Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan were unable to be decided upon due to time constraints.

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