The second 2014-15 budget made it through first reading at Tuesday night’s Student Government meeting with only five changes made to the budget that was vetoed last week. “We believe that the budget process was fair, even though funding for sports clubs was cut,” said Tommy Twyford, president of the Lacrosse Club and secretary of the Sports Club Council. “We hope that the same process is used in the future.”
C.J. Duffie, president of the Spearfishing Club, agrees. “I feel that every club has the opportunity to follow the rubric,” he said.
Early in the meeting, several speakers spoke about how dissatisfied they were with the previous budget, including Dawn Larison, president of the Gender Equality Organization. The Gender Equality Organization only received $438 in the previous budget, which members felt was not enough to operate. “It takes money to make money,” Larison said. The new budget, which will be voted on Tuesday, Feb. 11, allocates $3.66 million — $9,471 more than the previous budget.
Only five Registered Student Organizations will gain or lose money with this budget, compared to the budget that was vetoed last week by student body President Juan Cubillo. Phi Alpha Delta’s budget was cut from $190 to nothing because of a finance-code violation. Black Student Alliance gained $1,500 to $3,330, American Society for Civil Engineers had a budget increase from $5,505 to $10,680, Math Club increased from $884 to $1,690 and the Biomedical Engineering Society saw an increase of $1,380 to $2,810.
Thomas Edwards, appropriations chair, said, “There were just a handful of changes made, but we did feel like they were necessary changes.” Cubillo did not attend any of the meetings to work on the new budget, said Sen. Andrew Grillo, a member of the appropriations committee. Cubillo was not in attendance at Tuesday night’s SG meeting.