The Student Services Finance Committee postponed the budget decision for MultiCultural Student Coalition a second time after a heated debate but approved the budgets of the Supporting Peers in Laid Back Listening, Working Class Student Union and Wisconsin Student Lobby Monday night.
SSFC representatives debated the necessity of paid staff positions for the MCSC budget, questioning whether the paid staff of an organization met the definition of direct services.
“MCSC is requesting four people to work on the finances. It is important to allow two people, but four people is a little excessive to work on the budget,” SSFC Rep. Carl Fergus said.
SSFC Vice Chair Michael Romenesko said that other student organizations have student volunteers that perform the same services the MCSC budget pays their students for and last year only had one staff member working on the budget.
But other SSFC members sided with MCSC.
“Why not fund these positions if they give directly back to the student? MCSC serves a lot of students. Last year, MCSC moved locations and only has students and no professional staff. I wasn’t given a good reason to not have these positions,” SSFC Rep. Jake Burow said.
Further questions and debate led to SSFC postponing MCSC’s budget decision until their next meeting which will be held on Thursday.
SSFC did decide other postponed budgets, including SPILL’s, which was approved at $69,613.20 with a vote of 8-0-0.
The organization received cuts of $2,596.00 in computer funds, $108 in resource reference books and $392 from registration fees under financial workshops.
“SPILL’s peer-based support network is an online system where a student can vent about any issue, from roommate trouble to sexual orientation issues,” Heidi Allstop, president and founder of SPILL said.
The WCSU also had its budget approved at $57,639.20 and only saw minor cuts from what SSFC Secretary Matt Manes called an incredibly fiscally responsible budget.
WCSU marks its first year with ASM funding and had an 8 percent decrease from its 2009-10 budget, according to George McLaughlan, finance director of WCSU.
With the money, WCSU President Chynna Haas hopes to bring Michael Moore to campus next school year to speak on behalf of student unions.
WSL had its budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year approved by SSFC at $65,690.96.
“Some of the major increases to the budget will come with making the positions of president and vice president paid for the 2010-11 fiscal year,” said Patrick McEwen, the president of WSL and a Badger Herald opinion writer.
Another increase came with adding a Spring Lobby Conference to complement the Fall Lobby Conference where students could attend workshops to build lobbying skills and then have a venue to sharpen them.
Besides funding decisions, SSFC also held its last budget hearing, this time for Movimiento Estudiantil Chicane de Aztal?n.
In open forum, MEChA had a number of representatives speak on behalf of the group’s commitment to bringing a safe space to not only members who identify as Latino but to all students on campus.
With several large, colorful murals, the group showcased one of the group’s direct services of using traditional artwork as a medium of expression. The group also wishes to send representatives to the National MEChA Conference to attend workshops.
MEChA will be decided along with MCSC at SSFC’s Thursday meeting.
