ASUP designates tight budget
Hannah Gray
Issue date: 4/16/09 Section: News
With a tight budget this semester, ASUP scrambled to find proper funding for clubs and organizations for next school year.
"Because of the endowment, this should be the poorest semester we have," said Ben Taketa, ASUP treasurer. Due to the creation of an endowment, carryover funding was eliminated from the budget. This created an even smaller budget. The endowment will go into effect the next academic year.
The small budget led to tension within the Senate. A small group of senators, in hopes of increasing the budget, looked to other options. The first idea was to spend money designated for an exigency fund. The purpose of an exigency fund is to cover unexpected bills in an emergency and is two percent of the whole budget, according Taketa.
ASUP's finance policy specifically outlaws the use of spending money within the exigency fund. The Executive Board typically doesn't intervene during Senate discussion but felt the need to intervene this time in particular, according to ASUP Vice President Allison Able.
"A lot of senators are unaware of the fund's existence and what it does," Able said. "We have seen the need for the exigency fund come up. In a sense, we were doing our job of upholding our policy."
Along with Able, Taketa spoke up. Taketa apologized for doing so, but he knew he would regret it if he didn't say anything.
"The policy is a part of our core value," Taketa said.
Another area where senators considered taking money from was from the capital improvement fund, which is 10 percent of the overall budget and is used for projects at the end of each semester.
"There is a specific method to decide what the capital improvement fund is spent on," Taketa said. Allocating money from the fund was in violation of the method.
The money from the exigency and capital improvement funds were suggested to be allocated towards Student Led Unity Garden's greenhouse and T-shirts for Recreational Services. In the end, the ideas were vetoed.
"Because of the endowment, this should be the poorest semester we have," said Ben Taketa, ASUP treasurer. Due to the creation of an endowment, carryover funding was eliminated from the budget. This created an even smaller budget. The endowment will go into effect the next academic year.
The small budget led to tension within the Senate. A small group of senators, in hopes of increasing the budget, looked to other options. The first idea was to spend money designated for an exigency fund. The purpose of an exigency fund is to cover unexpected bills in an emergency and is two percent of the whole budget, according Taketa.
ASUP's finance policy specifically outlaws the use of spending money within the exigency fund. The Executive Board typically doesn't intervene during Senate discussion but felt the need to intervene this time in particular, according to ASUP Vice President Allison Able.
"A lot of senators are unaware of the fund's existence and what it does," Able said. "We have seen the need for the exigency fund come up. In a sense, we were doing our job of upholding our policy."
Along with Able, Taketa spoke up. Taketa apologized for doing so, but he knew he would regret it if he didn't say anything.
"The policy is a part of our core value," Taketa said.
Another area where senators considered taking money from was from the capital improvement fund, which is 10 percent of the overall budget and is used for projects at the end of each semester.
"There is a specific method to decide what the capital improvement fund is spent on," Taketa said. Allocating money from the fund was in violation of the method.
The money from the exigency and capital improvement funds were suggested to be allocated towards Student Led Unity Garden's greenhouse and T-shirts for Recreational Services. In the end, the ideas were vetoed.