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Friday, October 12, 1973
University Daily Kansan
Student Senate Funds Fall to All-Time Low
An upward trend in the student senate activity fee fund made a reversal this year.
In 1972 the activity fee fund supported 86
organizations and had a budget of
$8,040k.
This year, due to a lower student activity fee, the fund supports only 46 organizations and has an all-time low budget of $398,980 or the first budget figure of $999,550 in 1971.
During last year, its austere budget cuts the only group to receive increased funding was the allocation of funds for the administration of student senate.
in 1971, $16,200 went to the senate for such administrative expenses as office supplies, telephone bills and travel.
In 1972, the bill was $22,220 for the same services. This year the allocation for administrative expenses is $8,645. In 1973, the amount, even at the university level, will increase yearly.
ANOTHER STRONG TREND has been shown by activity fee fund allocations for athletics, where the senate has consistently lower to lower the set percentage of the fund that the KU Athletic Corporation receives yearly.
A few senators and students argue each year that the athletic department receives too much money which should be going to other teams. Some whole hog shown little inclination to agree.
There has also been a movement each year to divert an increasing amount of money to athletic groups other than the athletic department. Nine minor sports groups were funded during the first year of the fund. Of those, only four survive, but the trend toward ensuring the survival of those groups seems clear.
THE SOCCER AND RUGBY clubs received drastic cuts from their previous allocations under this year's austere budget.
Meanwhile, the women's intercollegiate sports program received $9,300, one of the largest single student group allocations this year. Only $87 less than it received last year.
Minority organizations have also figured prominently in senate allocations for the past two years. Last year an increasing social consciousness of minorities and an increased budget allowed funding of 12 new groups for social work or black students.
However, the senate became indignant last semester at what it considered miseuse of funds by several of the organizations, notably the Black Student Union and the Supportive Educational Services, a tutorial program operated principally for blacks.
AS A RESULT of that and the limited activities undertaken by our work groups we did not fund this year.
At the same time, the success that blacks have had at making themselves heard on campus has established a trend toward funding of black organizations. This year five black organizations received a total of $3,544. It is perhaps significant that five such groups were funded at a time when many students in school were Black Student Union and the tight budget dropped that organization's current allocation to $205 from $18,030 last year.
A trend toward continued support despite limited funds has been shown in two other areas: women's groups and ecology organizations.
The Women's Coalition and the Commission on the Status of Women have received funds each year from the student senate, but both were cut considerably this year. A trend toward continued funding of women's organizations, when some ethnic groups and hobby-type organizations are being denied funds, is likely to continue.
THE POPULARITY of the environmental movement on campus was evident during last semester's senate budget sessions when two ecology groups received increased allocations under a sharply decreased budget. The two ecology groups receiving
funds are the Sierra Club and the National Environmental Law Society.
Since 1971, when the first budget was written, the allocation process has begun. The first phase of the budget was
The first budget, allocated $800 to a legal self-defense fund for students arrested in campus disturbances. The Student Bar Association Aid was also created and allocated $2,300.
UNDER THE 1972 BUDGET the need for legal fund amounts diminished along with the number of campus demonstrations. The legal self-defense fund was eliminated, and the Student Bar Association received only $225.
This year the Student Bar Association was incorporated into the Law School Council, and the groups received a total of $645.
The senate also seems to moving toward elimination of organizations that it considers inefficient and to which the student body has been unresponsive. This fall, the Emporium bookstore, designed to give students an alternative education, has come under attack for alleged mismanagement and is in danger of being closed.
CRITICS OF THE Emporium say the store has not generated enough student
The KU Reclamation Center, allocated about $8,000 each year from the activity fee and the overhead.
Emerging trends from the first three years of the activity fee's allocation indicate that future money will be made increasingly available to the senate and to women's groups and women's organizations in such amounts as the budget dictates.
THE REST OF THE MONEY each year is likely to go to whatever groups happen to appeal at that time to the whims of prevailing campus attitudes.
Interest in student government, it appears, has declined drastically in the past few years. And there is some disagreement on the reasons why.
"I don't think we have the kind of issues today that we had several years ago," says William Balfour, vice chancellor for student affairs.
Mert Buckley, Wichita senior and student body president, agrees that the issues concerning students today do not seem as vital as the issues of a few years ago.
"Students aren't going to march to Strong Hall for a bus system," Buckley says.
Interest in Student Senate Down
As student interest in political and environmental problems wanted, so did information on the project.
"The time for rhetoric is hard and now it's time for hard work." Buckley says.
Since its evolution five years ago, the Student Senate reached a peak of activity and interest in 1971 and has declined since then. In the spring election that year, 288 candidates ran for 83 senate seats. In 1973, 188 candidates registered to run for 90 seats.
Balfour says he believes students do not have as much time now for student government as they once did because they are more concerned about studying.
Buckley says students now are concerned about studying such things as economics, law and chemistry in an effort to do something about the political and environmental problems that the students of a few years ago protested against.
THE STUDENT SENATE and officers have been criticized for being controlled by the Greek system. Balfour and Buckley admit that this may be a valid complaint.
"The Greek system has a better political base from which to back a candidate because it is already organized." Balfour, who has been elected halls combining to back a candidate."
Buckley says he investigated the makeup of the senate this year and found that it was about 45 per cent Greek. "There are too many English words," Buckley is a member of Sigma Chi.
He agrees that fraternities and sororities
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"It's easy to get your fraternity brothers together to hear a campaign speech," Buckley says, "but a dorm is too big for that."
RESIDENCE HALLS will have to change some of their rules for campaigning, Buckley says, before they will be able to participate in the organization to back candidates successfully.
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