There never seems to be enough segregated fee money to go around for student organizations at UW-Madison.
That was the situation at the Student Services Finance Committee hearing Thursday as they mulled budget increase proposals from a number of student organizations, such as the MultiCultural Student Coalition, UW Roman Catholic Foundation and Promoting Awareness and Victim Empowerment.
The panel heard arguments from organization representatives defending their respective budget requests.
Tim Cruise, representing the UWRCF, justified its budget increase from $86,000 last year to over $200,000 this year, citing financial needs ranging from office supplies to additional janitorial staff.
'It would be a tragic loss to our community to not get these funds. It is really a small amount considering the services we provide,' Cruise said.
He assured tentative SSFC members that the funding they receive does not go strictly to religious purposes. 'It's one thing to provide funding for an organization with religious affiliation, but that is not the same as funding the church up the street. We are absolutely not a church,' he said.
MCSC and PAVE representatives argued their organizations deserve increases in funding because they provide unique services to students.
'This is a great organization. It provides services essential to a progressive university like ours,' MCSC member Aaron Dorsey said.
PAVE also provided reasons for their program to receive additional funds.
'We're requesting about a 5 percent increase in our budget from last year because we provide an invaluable service on this campus for sexual assault prevention,' PAVE member Namrata Singh said. 'We are the only organization on this campus that works on that, which is why the money is well spent.'
SSFC will continue hearings next week as part of the process of allocating student segregated fees to student organizations for the next fiscal year.
