Frustrated with a lack of funds and Senate’s refusal to add money to the spring funding pool, Alianza leaders stormed out of Wednesday’s ASG meeting. Members of the Asian American Advisory Board soon followed.
“They’re making a joke out of it,” said Alianza member Xelena Gonzalez, a Daily columnist. “We don’t want any more of your money.”
Last week senators allocated two-thirds of the amendment pool left over from SAFB’s recommendations — about $80,000 — to 11 student groups, including $55,000 to A&O Productions.
After Senate distributed money to 19 of the remaining 31 groups and had only $7,000, Senate suspended SAFB guidelines to reconsider A&O’s additional funds and moving more money from the Fall Quarter supplemental funding pool. Senators voted to take $40,000 from the fall pool last week.
Senate ultimately denied both motions to avoid attacking specific groups and depleting the Fall Quarter funding pool. They also argued that adding money to the pool would be unfair to the 30 groups that had already gone through funding.
A&O Sen. Ben Patterson, who proposed legislation Fall Quarter to allow senators to make adds and cuts to a group’s funding any time during funding, said senators should have brought the issue up before funding began.
“It’s arbitrary and reactionary to attack A&O,” said Patterson, a Daily columnist.
But Rachel Lopez, a senator for the International Studies Residential College and an Alianza member, said Alianza was “raped by the system” because of A&O’s allocation.
“That was unfair to the rest of the student groups, and it was irresponsible,” said Lopez, a Weinberg freshman.
A&O President Micah Arnold said his group will always be attacked because of the large amounts of money they ask for.
“Until people start realizing and accepting that, we are always going to be the bad guy,” said Arnold, a Speech senior.
Members of both Alianza and the Asian American Advisory Board left the meeting out of frustration during their appeals.
“Keep your crumbs,” said Robert Wilczynski, Alianza public relations chair, as he stormed out of Senate.
Added AAAB Chairman Wayne Wu: “Effectively, Senate decided that the minority voice is not important enough.”
For the 12 groups at the bottom of the funding list to receive more money, Associated Student Government President Adam Humann suggested student leaders take $9,000 allocated for ASG-sponsored paddleboats. Although Humann had urged Senate earlier in the meeting to fund paddleboats for the Lagoon, which were on his presidential platform, he said he realized later that the money could be better spent on the remaining student groups.
“Paddleboats is a great project and I want it completed,” said Humann, a Weinberg junior. “I just think it would have been more constructive for the Northwestern community to use that money so that groups didn’t get alienated.”
Although SAFB did not recommend funding for the Associated Student Government, senators voted to give ASG $9,000 for paddleboats, about half of its original $17,100 request.
But some ASG members argued that paddleboats would benefit a larger number of students than most events.
“This is the event that will put smiles on the faces of the most people on this campus as possible,” said Patterson, a Speech senior.
Other students were concerned that paddleboats are not an event, but a capital improvement, which is something normally funded during supplemental funding. Capital improvements include items such as computers and telephones.
“If there’s any other group that brings up a capital improvement, it gets nixed by SAFB and never even gets debated in Senate,” said Matt Harsh, co-chairman of Mayfest.
Other groups to request additional funds Wednesday included:
