While awaiting the Student Judiciary's verdict in the case of the Legal Information Center versus Aaron Werner, chair of the Student Services Finance Committee, the committee cut the SJ budget Wednesday night while nearly doubling SSFC funding.
Increasing its budget to $100,710 in order to accommodate a new paid adviser position, SSFC lowered funding to $37,985, cutting $7,500, citing unnecessary salaries for top positions.
Werner emphasized the necessity of the new SSFC professional staff position that would account for $45,000 in budget increases.
\We had to add this professional staff to better serve groups,"" Werner said.
Citing differences in salaries and workload, Werner said SSFC did not grant funding for some SJ officials.
""I cut all the student associate justice positions ... so only the chair and the vice chair will be paid now,"" Werner said. ""We have members on our committee not getting paid and they put in ... the most hours out of anybody.""
""In no way was this cut made in reflecting the pending current case of LIC versus Werner,"" he added.
Meanwhile, the SJ is deliberating the appeal of a previous case in which LIC representative Carrie Benedon said notification from SSFC via e-mail regarding eligibility renewal was minimal and overlooked due to a previous meeting in which she said SSFC did not list LIC as eligible.
According to Associated Students of Madison bylaws, SSFC is responsible for giving adequate notice to student groups eligible for funding in order to successfully complete renewal applications.
""The reason we brought this suit was simply on the grounds of notice,"" Benedon said.
Werner said LIC was eligible for funding this year and was notified both on paper at a meeting, in an e-mail all groups received as well as in a personal call to LIC to remind them about the eligibility forms.
""She's not either being honest or she remembers wrong,"" Werner said. ""If you're going to take a leadership role in these organizations, then it's your responsibility to get this information we've provided for you.""
Benedon said Werner called a half-hour before the application was due, not adequate time to fill it out, but said she was more concerned with the e-mail notification process.
""I think that, usually, [Werner] goes above and beyond what he needs to do for his duties, and I think that in this case when it came to providing notice he filled his duties, but he kind of did the bare minimum,"" Benedon said.
Jordan Green, Chief Justice of the SJ, said he hopes the SJ can come to a decision on the case by Monday.
""This is pretty much the last step of the appeals process for [LIC],"" Green said.
""I'm really shocked the SJ would take this up as a dereliction of chair duties as the reason for why this should be appealed,"" Werner stated.
