After three months of deliberations involving the Undergraduate Student Association's intended withdrawal of funds from Sub-Board I, Inc., only one thing is clear - The party that stands to lose the most is the entire student body.
Sub-Board was formed in 1970 as a coalition between the major student governments on campus. It was chartered to disburse funding and provide university-wide activities that benefited the entire student body, as well as provide accounting and some administrative services to its contributing governments. By 2003, SBI had expanded to include such services as an on-campus pharmacy, free legal counseling, student medical insurance and an off-campus housing office. Additionally, it funded the weekly UB magazine Generation, the on-campus radio station WRUB and the University Union Activities Board, provider of the Fallfest and Springfest concerts.
In early April, after a the defeat of an SA nominee to the SBI executive board, 2003-04 SA President George Pape announced the possibility of withdrawing funding from the corporation, drawing criticism from not only The Spectrum, but also campus groups likely to be affected. He argued that undergraduate students contribute more than 80 percent of the funding necessary to sustain Sub-Board, while only controlling 46 percent of the voting power on SBI' s board of directors.
"We feel strongly that SA will be able to replace these services," said Pape in an open letter he sent to undergraduate students on April 24, "(thereby) streamlining student services and cutting down on administrative duplication."
If SA chooses to withdraw funding, they will have to do so by July 31, the deadline for renewing the annual SBI contract between the supporting student governments. Since SA contributes over 80 percent of the SBI' s funding, The Spectrum feels there is no way to withdraw funding without damaging student services. Pape claims that SA will be able to pick up services and programs that SBI will be forced to drop, but he has not made public how he plans to manage this transition.
SBI and SA have engaged in serious discussions to develop a compromise, preventing such a drastic change in the administrative structure of student services. Unfortunately, it seems that both sides are engaging in games and power ploys to further their own positions, and the future of many of Sub-Board' s vital services are being further jeopardized.
SA has still to justify why it is worth withdrawing funding to ensure undergraduate dominance in an organization that is designed to serve all students equally. Furthermore, in their most recent meetings, Pape has asked that SA receive majority control of the seats on the SBI board of directors, and that members from SA be allowed to initiate and second their own motions. This effectively would eliminate any sense of democracy derived from having a board.
The latest proposal on the table allows SA to provide a substantially smaller allocation to SBI by an amount equivelent to what SA has deemed non-essential student services. These services are University Unions and Activities Board, which among other things heads major concert events; WRUB, UB's radio station; and Generation, UB's weekly student-run magazine. This amount will total $215,000
Sub-Board has, however, not been forward in their negotiations with SA. Recently, SA and SBI had apparently made an agreement on the division of funding and services for next year. Shortly before they were to meet and finalize plans, Sub-Board directors cancelled the meeting and delayed it for nearly a month. This pushes negotiations even closer to the deadline, and creates more pressure for SA to make a quick decision. Should SA choose to cut funding, they will be hard pressed to develop transition plans in time to effectively sustain services for next fall.
Between Pape's catch-22 proposal to SBI - a choice between losing funding and relinquishing control of the board to SA - and Sub-Board's dangerous delaying tactics, the future of vital student services is still questionable. Both SBI and SA will hopefully put aside their differences, and refocus on what's important: providing the best programming, services and activities to their constituents. Should their power struggles yield nothing but continued disagreement, the entire student body will ultimately suffer.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
