FUSA budget: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it

At a meeting last April 19, FUSA President-Elect Hutchinson Williams outlined the organization’s 2006 budget, announcing that, overall, the allocation of funds will remain the same.

The biggest change was a cut in FUSA’s lecture budget, which will drop from $17,000 to $12,000 next year. This section of FUSA goes to special programs that include appearances by the ghost hunting group The Warrens, and former “Real World” cast members.

Williams said that although on paper the cut looks large, FUSA plans instead to have an increased number of co-sponsored events with academic groups, other student organizations, and possibly even the dean of students office.

The money cut from the lecture budget in addition to the $500 cut from the executive cabinet fund will be redistributed to several other branches. Appropriation for general events will increase from $57,950 to $58,900, and the concert stipend will increase from $21,000 to $23,000 next year. In addition, the Senate’s budget will increase from $1500 to $2500, with the added money used specifically for senator training.

The concert budget has not been raised enough to bring in a more popular act, but FUSA hopes it will be enough to offset some of the costs that students pay directly. FUSA officers were disappointed that they had to charge $20 for the recent Dashboard Confessional concert, and hope to keep that number down to $15 for future venues, Williams said.

The overall budget will remain the same as last year, at $260,400. This number is generated by multiplying the number of students who are included in the 2006-2007 budget, 3,100, by a portion of the student general fee, $85.

The $85 cut from the student general fee, were allocated for FUSA in the past, was included each year with tuition. It served to fund various events and programs on campus.

This year, Williams hopes to reinforce that dollar amount through increased fundraising. In the budget meeting, he spoke of working with the budget they were given not just to take out and spend money, but also to bring money in.

“Money gets the events here,” Williams said. “But it is FUSA and the students who get the events going. I believe our FUSA members and the work they do are more valuable than the numbers in the budget.”