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Part of Black Student Union angry over proposed budget cuts, March 18, 1992

Text

The Spectrum
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO

WEDNESDAY MARCH 18, 1992 VOLUME 41 NUMBER 60

Black Student Union angry over proposed budget cuts
JAMES HOFFMAN
Spectrum StaffWriter
Student Association Senators were
braced for conflict at a March 4th
meeting as angry BSU (Black Stu­
dent Union) members threatened
protest. The BSU members were
reacting to the discovery ofa budget
proposal that would decrease their
funding by $3500 next fall.
The BSU found out about the
proposed cut after members saw a
copy of the proposed budget earlier
in the day.
SA Treasurer Jennifer . Bucklin
said the Senate Finance Committee
had spent the entire week putting in
long hours to get the budgetproposal
ready in time for the Senate meeting
on March 4th. The proposed budget,
completed only that morning, was
due to go before the Senate for a
vote.
Due to the unexpected presence
of the BSU members, the Senate
decided to put the budget vote off
until all clubs could have the same
opportunity to review the changes in
their own proposed budgets.
"Wearenotplayingfavorites. We
will delay the vote until all cl bs
have been given an equal chance to
seetheirproposedb g ," Bucklin
said "Letterswill be sent to each
club, informing them of what their

proposed budget increases or de­
creases are and why," she said.
The Senate listened briefly to the
complaints of the BSU, but decided
that budget matters should not be
discussed at the meeting. The deci­
sion was made after members of the
Senate said that the BSU would be
gaining an unfair advantage in
voicing their concerns over the proposed budget while no other groups
had any knowledge of the proposed
budget
The BSU students at the meeting
said they were unhappy with the
Senate's decision to end all discus­
sion about the proposed budget

Frustration over cuts
• "The understanding I got is that
the Senators are here to meet the
needs of the students," one BSU
member stated. "I come here today
for the BSU. We are very frustrated
about the budget The amount of
black students has gone up, not de­
creased, we need more money, not
less," she added
According to Bucklin, the deci­
sions behind the proposed budget
were due to factors involving both
the individual clubs' performance
and also the future prospected bud­
get of SA
The finance committee, made up
of eight senators and Bucklin, holds

Senatorstried to finalize the budget at a March 4 Student Association Senate meeting.
''The proposal
finance committee
hearings before theis bu dge
is looks at
how active a club is, what kind of
made. Clubs are encouraged
to attend
events it sponsors and its level of
a hearing to plead their case. At the
organization," Bucklin said
hearing, a club can request a level of
Bucklin explained that there are
funding and explain to the finance
six types ofclubs, each with a council
committee why they deserve it.

chair whose job it is to keep lines of
communication open between the
clubs and SA. Clubs should behold­
ing regular meetings with their

see BUDGET pg.11

Budget: BSU actual
cut only $1500 from page 1
council chair so that they in turn
can inform SA of each club's
needs.
The finance committee uses
the input from the council chairs
and the ledgers from the club's
present and past years to deter­
mine the level offunding the club
deserves.

BSU $1500 budget cut
AccordingtoBucklin,although

the BSU's budget is proposed to
be cut from $26,000 to $22,500,
their actual operating budget is
only to be decreased by $1500.
The remaining $2000 cut will
be from the elimination ofBSU's
co-sponsorship line. This line
included money that was set aside
in the budget, to be given out to
other clubs for co-sponsored
events. "Allotherclubs mustco­
sponsor events using their own
money," Bucklin said.
Bucklin explained that more
money was going to be made avail­
able to the club coordinators that
advise the clubs. This money is
used by the coordinators to give
back to clubs that express a need.
She added that when determin­
ing the amount a club deserves,
the committee looks at the club's
contributions to the university and
the community as a whole.
• "You can tell just by looking at
aledger, whetherornotaclubhas
been active or if they have shut
themselves off," Bucklin said.
Each club is rated on how well
it works within the university,
how it fosters good community
relations and what it does for the
university as a whole. "While

it' s important that a club foster
good relations with the com­
munity, it's more important to
[be active] in the university,"
Bucklin said
Bucklin explained that while
the BSU has done much within
thecommunity ,itshoulddomore
on campus so that its events are
more accessible to the university
population.
"The proposed amount of
PODER and the BSU was more
money than a whole category of
clubs combined," Bucklin ex­
plained, "more money than all
forty academic interest clubs."
The finance committee also
looks at the amount of money a
club fund raises on its own,
Bucklin explained "The BSU
has done no fund raising, while
some clubs have raised many
times their operating budget,"
shesaid. "Ifweincreaseaclub's
funding this year, we can at least
maintain that level of funding
next year. Chances are that
money won't be around next
year."
According to Bucklin the uni­
versity is expecting a steady de­
crease in undergraduates in the
next few years. Fewer under­
graduates equals less money that
SA has available to give out to
clubs.
Clubs that need money may
request additional funding from
their council chair.
All clubs should be receiving
aletterexplainingtheirnewbud­
gets. Bucklin suggested that any
clubs with questions should seek
the helpof their coordinator.