[media-credit name=’BEN CLASSON/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit]Taking its last official actions of semester, the Associated Students of Madison Finance Committee dispersed the remaining event grants to various University of Wisconsin student organizations Tuesday night.

The Finance Committee received requests totaling $8,245 but was only able to distribute slightly less than $3,974 — forcing the committee to debate grant proposals and specific budget line items.

According to Finance Chair Sree Atluru, excess funding not given to any organization will go into a reserves fund, and will be appropriated by next year's finance committee.

Traditionally, according to Atluru, the excess funds are used to offset segregated fees for the next school year.

Each organization that presented its grant proposal to the Finance Committee received at least partial funding for its event.

Atluru said the committee decided budget proposals based on the event's total impact on the UW campus and the rationality of a certain group's request.

"It's weighing what exactly is fiscal responsibility and … determining whether an event will be valid on campus," Atluru said.

Atluru added that committee members must realize many groups know their budgets would be cut during the hearing, and as a result, they request more funding than absolutely necessary.

"Everyone asks for an excess of money expecting their budgets to be cut," Atluru said. "[Committee members] decide what are the things you can cut without hurting an organization or an event."

Lisa Sikorski, a member of the Student Curatorial Committee who presented a grant proposal to help fund and advertise her organization's art fashion show, said she was pleased with the process used to issue grants.

"I find it fascinating," Sikorski said. "I think that the chance that you have to talk about your project as well as answer questions that they have about your project was very fair."

The Student Curatorial Committee initially requested $208, but the ASM Finance Committee decided the group did not need as much supplies funding as it requested, lowering the group's total grant to $175.

Regardless of the reduction, Sikorski said she was not "terribly disappointed."

"I feel fantastic that we're getting money to advertise our event," Sikorski said. "The $33 was the least amount on the budget, so it's an expense that I think we can incur."

Other organizations that received funding included Korean Students and Scholars Association, which planned an annual Korean Night; the Diaspora Curators, which planned a Transdiasporic Feminist Art Practices art exhibit; and Global Warming Fight Against Climate Change Today, which is planning a booth at the Wisconsin Public Interest Group's Earth Day event.

The Diaspora Curators also received a travel grant to attend the Contested Terrains of Globalization Conference in California this May.

As it was the Finance Committee's final meeting of the year, Atluru said she was happy with the work accomplished throughout the year.

"I think they've made good decisions all year," Atluru said. "I'm proud of what they've done all year."