The AU Club Council released its fiscal year 2008 budget allocations Sunday night, according to AUCC Chair Kristen Lyon.
Six of the seven voting representatives in the AUCC deliberated for over five hours to decide club budgets. Dorian Key, representative for the Academic/Professional caucus and an Eagle columnist, did not attend the budget deliberations due to scheduling conflicts, Lyon said.
"This year, the council was very fair and objective," Lyon said. "We scrutinized every club's budget meticulously."
The AUCC allocated $3,050 each to the College Democrats and the College Republicans, $450 less than last year, Lyon said.
Will Haun, president of the College Republicans, said the AUCC should give more support to political clubs because of the high level of student political activity.
"I think for a school that purports to value political activism, [AU] certainly doesn't support it in its funding," Haun said.
Last year was the College Republicans' best, and the AUCC should not decrease its funding, he added.
The funding loss is actually a good thing because it will allow the AUCC to give more money to smaller clubs, said College Democrats President John Cipriani.
"I think the difference is that the College Democrats have actually upped their fundraising this year," Cipriani said. "We have the money that we need right now from the rollover from this year and this new allocation."
AUCC allocated Eco-Sense $1,150 more than last year, which Eco-Sense President Shilpa Joshi said was a show of AUCC's faith in the club.
"I think it really reflects the growth that we had last year and the potential we have this year," Joshi said.
Eco-Sense was too conservative in asking for funding last year, she added.
This year, Eco-Sense plans to focus more on campaigning to make a difference on campus than on fundraising, as the club had in previous years, Joshi said.
In the coming year, Joshi said Eco-Sense hopes to sponsor a "Battle of the Eco-Bands" to show the feasibility of running an entire event on clean energy.
Clubs had the option of attending their budget hearings, although this is not a requirement, Lyon said.
"This year, we did have a lot more clubs that actually came in for hearings than last year," she said.
Clubs can submit appeals of their allocations by Sept. 28 and must attend their appeals hearings.
