Student Government Finance Committee (SGFC) received funds requests for $13,567.34 on Tuesday, but only allocated $5,841. Four requests for funding were rejected outright.
The committee also allocated $45 for the purchase of 15 teacups for the Chinese Undergraduate Students Association (CUSA). The RSO will use the teacups for its weekly tea meetings rather than buying disposable cups. Diana Doty, the RSO coordinator for the Office of the Reynolds Club and Student Activities (ORCSA), said at the meeting that she had done the math and it cost less to buy teacups than styrofoam cups.
Estimating 10 cents a cup, two cups per meeting, 20 students per meeting, and 10 meetings a quarter, Doty later explained, the cost of cups amounted to $40 per quarter, slightly less than the $45 allocated. “They were also concerned by the effects of the styrofoam cups on the environment,” she said.
Samahan, the Filipino student organization on campus, was funded $105 in preparation for a full-contact, no-pads football tournament on November 13. The competition will take place between six area schools, and both girls’ and guys’ teams will participate. Third-year Apple Dantes, the Samahan member who appeared before the committee, said that both teams were eager to have more members.
The University Pool Players Association was funded $209 in preparation for an intermediate players’ seminar following their beginners’ seminar earlier this quarter. Third-year Ron Chan, who appeared before SGFC on Tuesday, said that there would be an intercollegiate pool tournament on November 9.
The Asian Students Union received $234 to host 16 Chinese government officials making a tour of the United States while observing the U.S. elections. “They are experimenting with democracy in China on a trial basis, and want to observe democracy here,” said Zhiyuan Yu, who appeared before SGFC for the group.
One of the groups to which SGFC declined to give funding was the Sports and Wilderness Interest Group. The group’s event was an Emergency Medical Training seminar with medical student instructors who had trained to prepare for the event. SGFC declined to give them funding based on protocol of not paying students or faculty.
SGFC has allocated about $14,000 thus far this year out of a total of around $250,000 in funds. Every student (there are 13,400 students in the University) pays the Student Activities Fee. College students pay $56 and graduate students pay $39.
