After approximately 11 hours of deliberations spread over two meetings, the Associated Students of Madison's Student Services Finance Committee approved the budget for the Multicultural Student Coalition early Thursday morning. The final budget passed at $555,467 by a vote of 10 to 2, after the proposal had topped $1 million.
Due to a technical error, the proposed amount for office space for the MCSC was revised, causing the original proposed budget to increase from $977,418.
SSFC member Scott Spector said he was pleased the budget passed by an overwhelming majority because it showed the committee had come to a consensus.
\There was a general air of compromise,"" he said. ""I think this allows the organization to have a key victory for students and leaves room for them to improve.""
Deliberations on MCSC's budget were carried over from Monday's meeting, when SSFC members had not made a decision as of 2 a.m. Remaining budget decisions for other student organizations will be made Sunday.
An amendment on computers for MCSC decreased a proposed $85,250 to $28,490. Another amendment concerning the group's office space increased a proposed $22,000 to $111,313.
SSFC member Joel Urmanski said he did not support an amendment to increase funding for computers for MCSC.
""Look at groups that serve the entire campus, like [Greater University Tutoring Service],"" she said. ""How many computers do they have? Four?""
MCSC Outreach Officer Patricia Kim asked members to consider her organization's budget differently than they considered others' budgets.
""We are unique, and we serve the entire campus,"" she said.
SSFC Chair Lamont Smith recognized the significance of Wednesday's meeting.
""What we're talking about is more than just a number value,"" he said.
SSFC member Matt Modell said he did agree with raising the amount for office space.
""You are asking students on this campus to spend more in rent in one year than almost any single group gets on everything,"" he said. ""MCSC is important, and they're important to this campus. But their building is not more important than GUTS or SAFEWalk.""
Some representatives said they were troubled by the nature of last night's budget decision process.
""It's very frustrating to sit here and debate over $4,000 and $5,000 for a budget that's over a million dollars,"" Spector said.
Louis Crisostomo, a UW-Madison senior and chair of the College Republicans, who spoke at the beginning of the meeting during an open forum session, said a ""silent majority"" existed on the UW-Madison campus who would oppose funding a budget of such magnitude. This group of students, he said, were the ones dedicated to studying and working to pay for their education, lacking the time to come to the meeting and have their voices be heard.
""Just because they're not here doesn't mean they shouldn't be represented,"" he said.
He said while he didn't question the ""vision of the MCSC,"" he encouraged committee members to consider funding MCSC less than its proposed budget this year and incrementally increasing that amount. He said he thought the organization was ""biting off more than it [could] chew.""
Tshaka Barrows, UW-Madison senior and chair of MCSC, said during open forum each cut that was made in the MCSC's budget was cutting away opportunities for more students.
""Imagine trying to affect the entire campus with something in an area people don't like to discuss,"" he said.
Nothing of this nature has ever been funded in UW-Madison history, Barrows said.
""Think about the last 150 years of segregated fees students of color have paid out [without receiving such services],"" he said.
