Student finance council finally agrees on budget

Meeting for another 80 minutes, the co-curricular programs of the Student Finance Council reconvened on Wednesday and approved the student budget for the second, and final time.

An accounting zero balance was finally achieved through collaborative measures. Fresh replacements were said to contribute to programs putting aside their differences and initiating “fair cuts.”

There was more: Phil LePoivden replaced Chris Josi as representative for Forensics; Associated Student Government Vice President Cristian Urzua replaced ASG President Alma Pacheco for ASG Administration; and Itan Altamirano replaced Yen Ton for Rho Theta.

Ashley Gass, ASG director of finance, said Altamirano credited the replacements and said that the “new people around the table helped with eliminating the hostility.”

Gass started the meeting by addressing the behaviors that stagnated decisions of the previous meetings. “I will start off by emphasizing that we’re not targeting any specific person. We’re not targeting any specific program,” she said. She made clear that “A shared sacrifice is where each program comes together and makes a cut that will not potentially hurt their program from running efficiently and accurately. Some programs will be able to cut more than others.”

Gass then posed a question to both Forensics and Perceptions (magazine). She wanted to know from Perceptions why they could not hold their award ceremony at a cheaper venue than at Edgefield McMenamin’s. She wanted to know why Forensics could not contribute more, considering they had a little over $1,200 in their budget left unspent at the end of the year and a larger amount in their incentive account that had also been untouched.

The concept that has driven the decision to re-think the budget was that of a “shared sacrifice” but it was expressed by David Sussman, MHCC manager for the Student Union and specialized student services, that everyone viewed that concept differently.

“The goal is that we’re serving the greater good. And by that I mean that it is easy to get locked into a perspective that leans toward self-serving goals,” Sussman said. “However, that’s not what the student fee budget is about. It’s not about individual needs or individual programs. Rather, it’s about what’s in the best interest of all MHCC students.”

The Council agreed to split the remaining $140 (deficit) between other, which was $14 among 10 programs. KMHD2 and Rho Theta had reached their limit and Forensics representative, LePoivden, offered to cut $38 for both groups.

At the end, inspired by the spirit of cooperation, Sussman decided to pull $102 from an undesignated student fund, and exempt the other programs, while Forensics made a $38 cut.

“Once the spirit of collaboration entered into the proceedings, it felt natural to contribute to that collaboration,” Sussman said.

Athletics took a lot less time for a decision, because that group was working with a small funding surplus instead of a small deficit. According to Sussman, Athletics had to reconvene for formality, not so much because it needed to. The reconvening was a result of co-curricular’s concerns during the open budget forums, he explained. “You can’t reject just half the budget,” he said.

Sussman did expect that a motion would be raised, that would be like: “I motion for the same budget approved last term.”

That didn’t happen. Instead, Kim Hyatt, MHCC athletics director, suggested a new idea: to fund an Athletics strength and conditioning coach, who would start July 1. The idea was well-received by the Athletics representatives and they adjusted their budget accordingly.