As we put the finishing touches on our FUSA Budget article last night, else where in the BCC, FUSA members gathered together and began a constitutional convention that looked at restructuring FUSA. To that, we say thank you.
After reading the front-page headline you know FUSA has a $300,000 budget by receiving $95 from each full-time undergraduate student. In comparison, The Mirror, in form of a subscription check from Fairfield University, receives approximately $10 for each full-time undergraduate student.
The Mirror happily sides with those groups of FUSA members who met for the constitutional convention that said, “no part of the constitution is off limits,” as they look to change the way FUSA runs.
We at the editorial board do not often attend many of FUSA’s late night programming events or even feel that we truly reap the benefits of the large FUSA budget. We also believe that stands true for most students on campus. While some will attend a handful of FUSA programs, for the most part, with the exception of Extreme Bowling, we are hard pressed to see why so much money is spent in providing programs that so few students attend.
Here’s what we know. FUSA is given $187,000 from the total budget for yearly programming. The Executive Cabinet receives $28,040, where many of the same initiatives are again acknowledged through more programming. We get it, you like to do a lot of programming. However the important question here is do your fellow students like your programming? Attendance records might show that they do not. Yes, cheap trips to Broadway and free t-shirts on Fairfield Fridays are awesome, but the consistent low turnouts to Multicultural Mondays from 12-2 p.m. in the lower level BCC might be a waste of your money. (We observe the sparsely populated event during Monday afternoon meetings. Yes, we do have meetings).
Now this is not an attack on the individuals who work in FUSA. We are aware that FUSA is “Student Driven” not “Student Run” and that is not by your choosing. If administration is standing in your way, you should look into simulating a He-Said-esque event promoting the Walk of Shame. After that the school will want you to be independent.
But really, look at your student body. If engagement between students and a focus on multi-cultural activities is your main goal then think outside the box. FUSA in the past has not been able to accomplish that, so the hand-me-down itineraries and plans you receive from previous FUSA members are not going to accomplish anything fresh either.
FUSA over spends on events few attend. Yet BCC 212 wants them to have more programs, which means even less people. We don’t need two or three events each week if we don’t want to attend any of them. Let’s try to have some of the late night programming apply to all students. There is at least $70,000 to go around.
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