A few weeks ago, I wrote a column advocating changes to the Associated Students of Madison Finance Committee's policies and procedures. Among those proposed and failed changes, was a cap on the maximum amount of money that an organization could receive for a travel grant. As fate would have it, I am now blasting the ASM Student Council for their "support" of this failed travel cap.
In the fall, Finance Committee had a temporary cap on the maximum amount of funding that could be allocated to a travel grant. At the last Student Council meeting on Valentine's Day, several representatives invoked the travel cap number of $400 (which expired in December) as justification for cutting the travel grant of the Black Law Students Association (BLSA) from $3,700 to $400 (it was eventually increased back to $600). The most outspoken supporter of this motion was Student Services Finance Committee chair Zach Frey.
Nobody argued the merits of the grant. BLSA wanted to send its members to a national competition. In previous years, BLSA has fared extremely well at this event, garnering awards and national recognition. This has greatly enhanced the profile of the UW Law School and has reaped benefits in areas such as increased diversity among the law school population. BLSA members truly served as ambassadors for our university. But like I said, the representatives didn't question the merits of this trip.
It was completely inappropriate for the Student Council to rewrite funding criteria in the middle of a debate on a travel grant. It was completely inappropriate to change the rules of funding in the middle of the game. Personally, I was a huge proponent of a travel cap. I could understand and agree with Frey's rationale that a cap would allow student organizations asking for money in March to find funds still left in the pot. But this was not the time or place to debate amendments to the policies and procedures. Student Council crossed over the line, eroding the separation of powers; it was legislating when it should have been administering policy. Had it wanted a travel cap, it was welcome to speak at the January Finance Committee meeting; not a single non-Finance Committee member showed up.
Several times during the debate, representatives applauded the job that Finance Committee had done. Frey noted that the BLSA conference must have been justified to receive $3,700 from the Finance Committee. So why, then, did Student Council cut funding from $3,700 to $600? The Student Council respected the committee's judgment so much that it slashed the budget by 83.8 percent! Granted, I was disappointed that BLSA representatives didn't show up at the Student Council meeting to defend their budget, but all except three Student Council members did not hear the group's proposal before Finance Committee on Tuesday, Feb. 13. Obviously, their praise of Finance Committee was mere lip service. They chose to throw away the much-debated decision of the committee.
It is unfair to BLSA for the Student Council to apply a different standard than the Finance Committee used to judge the other travel grants this semester, such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference, which received almost $1,000. Frey countered that it was unfair to give BLSA more than $400 because student organizations that applied for travel grants in the fall didn't get more than that amount. I fail to see the logic of that argument. It focuses on the past instead of the present. What's done is done; despite past injustices, you have to look to the future and be as fair as possible to this semester's organizations.
At one point, a motion was made to increase the funding back up to $1,400. Frey attacked this motion for being an arbitrary number. But how did he come up with the $400 proposal when the merits of the travel grant were not questioned? Instead of an arbitrary number, he used an invalid benchmark from the fall semester. Each travel grant is supposed to be evaluated based on its merits, as specified in the written policies and procedures. Nowhere does it say that travel grants shouldn't get more than $400. As a result of illegal procedures, BLSA may be suing Student Council.
I would like to apologize to BLSA. I would like to apologize to the student body. Because of Student Council's blatant disregard for written policies and procedures, you won't be able to enjoy this event. Because of this organization's desire to impose artificial and arbitrary ceilings on travel grant money, this campus will lose out on the chance to add some much needed diversity to our community. When I joined ASM, I was proud to be joining a body that could make a difference in students' lives. Today, I feel we need to shake up this organization on Election Day.
Tim Fung ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in marketing, management and human resources and political science. He is also the ASM Finance Committee at-large appointee.
