Last Wednesday afternoon, the Student Association Senate met with representatives from five student clubs who came before the Senate to request extra funding needed for upcoming events and activities.
Present at the meeting were students from the Society of Automotive Engineers, the Women's Lacrosse team, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the Korean Student Association.
The Indian Student Association was also present at the meeting, requesting emergency funding for last Saturday's Muqabala Intercollegiate Indian Dance Competition.
All of the clubs said they needed the money to supplement their budgets as well as to plan and hold special events.
Although the Senate awarded money to all of the clubs, only the lacrosse team and the Indian SA received the entire amount requested. All other clubs were told to fund-raise for the remainder of the money they need.
SA Treasurer Naazli Ahmed said she is happy the senators did not award all the clubs the full amounts.
"I am glad that the senators are critical and don't just hand out money," Ahmed said. "Most of the time the clubs can do with a little bit less money and can fund-raise a little bit more."
According to Senate Chairman Anthony Burgio, the results varied between every situation because each club has special circumstances.
"It goes both ways, but that is going to happen when you have a lot of clubs presenting," Burgio said. "I just hope that the senators look at the right things when awarding the money."
The SAE asked the Senate for $1,200 to help fund a car they are building for a competition against other engineering clubs in May in Detroit.
According to the SAE, after they received their initial budget, they realized they needed more money for a new engine for their car.
The Senate did not allot them the full award, opting to grant them $800 instead.
According to James Ambrose, a senator and the SA engineering coordinator, the Senate does not give clubs like the SAE as much money as they ask for, because they do not fund-raise as much as other clubs. With the time the SAE put into their car project, however, Ambrose said the club was left with little extra time for fundraising.
"I try to look at how much time the club puts into the university," Ambrose said. "Sometimes it is hard to relate to the Senate how much time the SAE really puts in."
The lacrosse team requested $3,000 from the Senate to help pay for a trip to a spring tournament in Bermuda. The team has raised $5,000 since the beginning of the semester and has more fundraising activities planned, but could not raise all of the additional funds needed on their own.
The Senate granted the team the full amount by a 17-to-one vote.
The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers requested $2,500. The representative from the group said the club had unsuccessful fundraising attempts this year and needed more money to secure a trip for 23 of the members to go to the National Technical Career Conference in New Orleans.
The Senate awarded the organization $1,500.
According to the representatives from the Korean SA, "Korea Night," which is the biggest production sponsored by the club, is moving from the Student Union Theater into the Center for the Arts to accommodate a higher capacity.
They are also attempting to rent cultural costumes to educate the public on the history of Korean dress. In order to afford these changes, the group asked the Senate for $3,130. The Senate granted them $2,000 for their April event.
According to Korean SA President Young Mi Choi, the amount the Korean SA received is going to help make Korean Night a successful event.
"I felt that we received a fair amount and we're extremely grateful towards the senate," he said. "We do have to fund-raise a lot to make this year's Korea Night an awesome one."
The Indian SA received the full $3,323 for which they asked, but were told that if they made more of a profit than they expected, $323 would have to be paid back.
Senator Anthony Saad said he believed the Senate evenly distributed the money.
"I thought all the clubs that came were very active clubs and deserved every penny we gave them," Saad said. "None deserved more, and none deserved less."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
