The Undergraduate Senate is considering allocating $10,000 for the Student Government executives to continue funding their "Be" campaign in the spring semester.
Senator Nick Johnson, Class of 2007 representative, spoke out against additional funding for the campaign, which is under consideration by the Committee on Programming. Johnson will be studying abroad in London next semester when the legislation comes back to the full Senate.
"I would encourage everyone in this body to oppose additional spending on the 'Be' campaign," he said, adding that the campaign has been effective in spreading its message of unity but campus is now saturated with t-shirts and buttons.
Legislation about funding the campaign, authored by Senators Elliot Friedman, Will Haun and Max Rubin, states that the executives have spent over $12,000 this semester purchasing "Be" items. Secretary Joe Vidulich said over 17,000 t-shirts have been ordered, with 95 campus organizations purchasing t-shirts for their group members.
The allocations would be taken out of the SG Restricted fund, which contains about $54,000, according to Comptroller Zach Ulrich. SG by-laws state that $25,000 must remain in the account at all times, leaving $29,000 to be appropriated by the Senate for the spring. Traditionally, much of that money goes to the Kennedy Political Union and the Student Union Board to bring a big-name speaker or band to campus at the end of the year.
Vice President Leah Kreimer is also seeking funding from the SG Restricted account to help pay for the Founder's Day Ball and other Spring programming expenses, such as the Spring Fling. Her office is seeking a total of $13,000 under a separate piece of legislation that is also currently in the Programming Committee for its consideration. If both bills are passed by the Senate when it reconvenes in the spring, the funds left in SG Restricted that can be appropriated out would be dwindled down to about $8,000.
Johnson, who supports the funding for Founder's Day, said the "Be" campaign money should be rejected in order to reserve the bulk of Restricted's funds for KPU and SUB. He said their programming is something that "the entire student body can go to, participate in, and learn from."
KPU Director Genevieve Frye and SUB Director Eric Friedlander attended yesterday's meeting to speak about the rising costs of bringing entertainment and speakers to campus. They also answered questions from the Senate about their plans for spring programming but they did not offer their personal opinions on the allocations pending before the Senate, even when pressed by Comptroller Ulrich.
KPU and SUB are Cabinet departments under the office of SG President Kyle Taylor. The "Be" campaign is the focal point of Taylor's presidency. Frye and Friedlander both spoke highly of the "Be" campaign but advised the senators to become better informed about what the $10,000 would be spent on.
Frye called the campaign "positive programming" but echoed Senator Johnson's observation that is has now saturated campus.
Friedlander told the body that "entertainment costs money" and said the cost of bands has been rising in recent years, while the Student Activities fee that determines the budget of departments such as SUB and KPU have not. He gave the example of the band Guster, whose cost has tripled in the past three years. Frye cited the expense of bringing a big name like Colin Powell to campus, who charges more than six times what he charged about a decade ago.
When KPU was trying to bring Powell to campus last spring, the General Assembly, the old version of the Undergraduate Senate, had the funds available in SG Restricted to allocate $60,000 for that event, although negotiations fell through and Powell did not speak. John Edwards was brought to campus instead, for a lower fee. SUB received $15,000 from SG Restricted to bring Jimmy Eat World to campus.
"The precedent has been set that each spring SUB and KPU come to this body for extra allocations," Frye said.
President Taylor rebutted the financial strain of the two departments, telling the Senate that SUB and KPU received "about 70 percent of the total student government budget" for this fiscal year.
Secretary Vidulich acknowledged the good entertainment and speakers that SUB and KPU bring to campus but said Frye and Friedlander should have anticipated the additional spring costs in their budgeting.
"We shouldn't just speculate that they're going to need these costs later on. It's their job to budget accordingly," Vidulich said.
Frye said administrators have told her in the past that KPU and SUB are so vital because students base the relative "goodness or badness" of a year at college on the entertainment and speakers that were brought to campus.
The Senate tabled all eight of its bills, including the financial allocations, to be considered after winter break. The body passed a resolution to begin a dialogue at the start of the spring semester about making changes to SG elections, possibly switching to a "choice voting" style where candidates are ranked by preference to eliminate the need for run-off elections.
Its sponsor, Senator Zo Tobi, who is finishing up his stay as a Washington Semester student, said this is a "responsible bill that doesn't bind us to anything."
Senators Tobi and Johnson received a standing ovation from the Senate at the end of yesterday's meeting, since it was the final meeting for both senators.
