USG pulls SUBOG funds for poster maker

By: Courtney Hickson and Kavita Tahilani, Daily Campus Staff

Posted: 10/10/02

The USG Senate backed out of a previously passed commitment to co-sponsor the cost of a poster maker with SUBOG at Wednesday's USG meeting.

Last April, legislation passed for USG to co-sponsor the poster maker machine with SUBOG. The legislation included the purchase and maintenance of a new poster maker machine, and would have been located in the former USG office. The legislation was revisited due to the fact USG has relocated, out of the Student Union, to the house on Gilbert Road. The question arose as to whether or not USG should continue monetary support of the poster machine if it was not in their office.

Budget and Finance Chairman Neil Roach opposed the motion for USG to co-sponsor this expense, since its original benefit is no longer there.

"One of the reasons USG kept it in the USG office was so it was readily available," said Roach.

Senator Jay Purzycki disagreed with Roach's argument.

Purzycki said he felt this was a good investment and was a positive project that USG should be a part of.

"It is very selfish to say that since it is not in our office, we are not going to fund it," said Purzycki.

Purzycki was one of the original sponsors of the legislation.

Roach said he believed that it should not be USG's responsibility to fund a project that most of the control was held by the SUBOG policy board.

"I don't feel we should be funding this machine if the policy around it is dictated by SUBOG," said Roach. "I think if SUBOG has control, they should foot the bill."

With this chance SUBOG will be fully responsible for the machine.

During the meeting, USG president Mike Nichols addressed the Senate regarding an issue he said he felt should be brought to light. Nichols said the senate should be wary of requests for funding brought before the Senate because many organizations had missed the Budget and Finance Committee funding deadlines and requested funds from the full Senate.

"Certain groups are using the Senate as a backdoor," said Nichols.

He said he believed some organizations did not turn their information in on time to be considered by the Budget and Finance Committee, and were taking advantage of the full Senate's later deadline.

The Senate had six pieces of funding legislation for the night.

An amended piece of legislation that USG passed involved awarding funding to the Alpha Phi Omega Fraternity so that they can attend the fraternity's national conference.

During this conference, the members of the fraternity will work to organize a large service project that, according to the sponsor of the legislation, Senator Kimberly Usselman, is predicted to raise $100,000 for the Make a Wish Foundation.

Usselman said she believes that by attending the conference, the members will be able to bring a great deal back to UConn. They will come away with leadership skills, community service ideas and UConn will receive national attention for their participation in the Make a Wish Foundation program.

The fraternity originally asked for $3,827.25 to cover their expenses, which would include hotel costs, airfare and conference fees. Two separate motions were made to amend the legislation. First, cutting out the hotel fares and then decreasing the number of people USG will fund to go on the trip. The final vote passed legislation provides the fraternity with $1,517.50 for its trip.

Usselman said the fraternity had done its best to raise its own money and cut spending as much as it could.

Senator Nedra Abbruzzese was not happy with the large cuts in funding.

"This group has clearly done their homework," said Abbruzzese.

She said they had done extensive research and tried to cut costs, and that this is what the Special Projects Account is for.

Usselman said that because of their responsibilities to Jonathan the Husky Dog and their other on-campus commitments, they simply could not come up with enough money on their own to send all the necessary members on the trip.

The Senate also passed legislation to grant the Brundage Precision Drill Team funding for their trip to participate in the Tulane University ROTC 31st Annual National Drill Competition. The team has earned the title of Grand Champions at the regional meets at Rennselear Polytechnic Institute for the past two years.

The Senate did amend the motion slightly.

Senator Derek Olson suggested the amendment provide the team with the initial $2,885 for their deposits and postpone the decision to fund the remaining portion until the first USG meeting of the spring semester.

Another piece of legislation passed regarding funding for the Muslim Student Association's Annual Ramadan Awareness Dinner. Olson, a sponsor of the legislation, said he is strongly in favor of this motion because it is a great cause and the Senate should support it. The dinner will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 14, and will include a movie, exhibitions about Islam and a guest speaker, Mr. el-Sayed, who will give a lecture entitled "Islam: A Way of Life."

USG also supported the amended funding requests of the Chi Phi Fraternity. This fraternity is looking for funds to use to produce calendars to sell around UConn to raise money for the Big Brother/Big Sister Community Outreach Program. This calendar would have pictures of the fraternity brothers and would be sold for $10 each. Chi Phi originally requested $792.50 to print 500 calendars. However, multiple senators brought up the question of sales, and amended the legislation to provide funding for only 300 calendars.

USG did not pass the legislation regarding funding of equipment for the Outing Club, which requested money for a new kayak and pool time. It also did not pass legislation regarding funding for the American Marketing Association. This is a new organization, which was looking for funds to increase awareness around campus about the organization.

Roach expressed his desire for senators to consider who gets funding and how much they should get.

"If we give away too much money now, we'll be forced to make too many cuts later on," said Roach.

Due to the length of the previous senate meeting, Speaker Adam Finkelstein said each piece of legislation would be limited to 30 minutes.