Associated Student Government Financial Vice President Carson Kuo will submit a proposal to administrators within a week requesting an increase in the student activities fee.

The proposal would raise the fee from $33 to $40 per quarter, adding about $150,000 to the Spring Funding pool, said Kuo, an Education senior.

University President Henry Bienen told The Daily on Nov. 15 that he was skeptical such an increase would be approved by NU’s Board of Trustees because the fee was increased by 50 percent just a year and a half ago.

“I think our board will be reluctant to see an increase in student financing,” Bienen said. “I don’t want to see it keep increasing incrementally.”

A referendum in April 1999 showed that students supported an increase in the activity fee from $22 to $40. But administrators decided to increase the fee only to $33 in April 2000.

In Spring Quarter the Student Activities Finance Board made recommendations on the distribution of $660,000 in programming funds for 40 A-status student groups. The money funds events during this academic year.

The extra money would fund a variety of events, such as a big-name concert sponsored by A&O Productions or more high-profile speakers like Angela Davis or Pat Buchanan, Kuo said.

“If we had this money, not only could we put all the money into diversity programming and the like, (but) we could also get mainstream programming for this campus that we used to have,” Kuo said.

Senate has been frugal in granting funds to large-scale programming in recent years, Kuo said. During Spring Funding two years ago, the Senate granted A&O about $55,000 for a Winter Quarter comedian, removing one-third of the pool available to student groups. The Senate also granted A&O Productions about $68,000 for a Winter Quarter concert but rescinded the money a week later in order to give funds to a wider variety of student groups.

“The problem is (mainstream programs) take a large chunk of the SAF,” Kuo said. “In recent years, we haven’t funded them in favor of more diverse programming.”

Kuo said the extra funds created with the proposal also would allow deserving student groups to receive more funds.

“There’s student groups and programs that are meritorious and aren’t getting funded,” he said. “That’s just not right in my opinion.”

During Spring Funding 2001 the Senate denied additional funds to several organizations, including Alianza and Asian American Advisory Board, during the appeal process.

A&O Sen. Neil Shah said an increase in the fee would give his group a better chance of receiving more funds.

“A&O’s programming capabilities have never been met,” said Shah, a Weinberg senior. “The senators are not voting against A&O, they’re voting for diverse programming.”

A&O generated about $110,000 in revenue during 2000-01, Shah said. The group should generate more than $200,000 in revenue this year, he said.

Last year all other A-status student groups created about $50,000 in revenue for the funding pool, Kuo said.

Shah said a fee increase would allow student groups to generate more revenue because they would be able to develop higher quality events.

But AAAB Chairwoman Marie Claire Tran said while the increase is a good idea, it wouldn’t necessarily mean all groups would see a bigger share.

“If we keep raising the fee, it’s not going to solve distribution problems,” said Tran, a Weinberg senior.

Mike Blake, senator for 1835 Hinman, agreed that not all student groups would necessarily benefit from the increase.

“It’s inevitable for some groups to put on better programming and have things run more accordingly than others, and they’ll be rewarded for that,” said Blake, a Medill sophomore.

Blake, who is also treasurer of For Members Only, said groups might appeal for higher quality programming instead of more events, a move that would be better for campus programming in general.

“One major problem on campus is that (groups are) over-programming constantly,” Blake said. “I hope people don’t try to equate more programming with more events, unless they’re meritorious.”

The proposed increase would benefit the student body as a whole, Blake said.

“People need to realize how beneficial this can actually be,” Blake said. “Students don’t realize they’re kicking in $100 a year for programming.”