The ASUO Senate helped fund the Muslim Student Association and the Chinese magazine HuaFeng for their upcoming projects and events Wednesday night. Leading up to getting the requests granted though was a bit of a struggle for the groups.
HuaFeng Magazine has gone to the ASUO on multiple occasions throughout the year to request funds for printing expenses for its quarterly magazine. This time though, HuaFeng was looking to get funding for a group retreat on the coast.
“We’ve never used the ASUO money for things outside of printing,” Xueyang Ma said, HuaFeng editor and ASUO International Student Advocate. “But this time, we’re unfortunately going to have to because we don’t have enough funds.”
During week seven of winter term, Ma and the other 38 members of the HuaFeng Magazine staff were looking to do a retreat in a beachfront property house. According to Ma, there are no structured plans for the retreat. Senator Miles Sisk was hesitant to support the request, mentioning that there isn’t a reason to travel for a bonding event when those experiences can be found on campus.
“I’ve never seen it necessary to spend thousands of dollars on a retreat for something that I’d say that thousands of college students are getting right here already,” Sisk said. “I’m not picking on you specifically, but I do want the retreat to be something that the ASUO needs to talk about, and unfortunately I don’t think I’ll be voting for this.”
Sen. Helena Schlegel looked to see if maybe finding cheaper housing would be an alternative to lower the group’s $3,301 request, but Ma said that he had already tried that option, but that it was difficult to find room for 38 people at a reduced cost.
After a motion was made, senate decided to unanimously accept HuaFeng’s request of $3,301.
Senate had questions for the Muslim Student Association’s request as well, specifically the possibility of the MSA profiting from the request, which isn’t in concordance to the Green Tape Notebook, which serves as a constitution.
The MSA were looking to turn their student guide into an app for iPhone and Android devices. The app would be the same as the student guide that they hand out at the beginning of every term, except this one would have language options in both arabic and english, where as the physical guide is only in arabic. They were requesting $2,000 from the ASUO, and on top of that, they were planning on charging one dollar for the app, which would go towards fundraising.
“We have pretty strict rules on what we fund,” Sen. Taylor Allison said. “Since there’s going to be a charge to the app, I don’t think we’re allowed to fund it.”
Sisk suggested that they don’t charge the app so that the ASUO could fund the project, but if they’re able to find an organization that is willing to fund the app with the fee, then the MSA could go ahead and give the $2,000 back to the ASUO. After agreeing to the terms, the MSA was granted its full request.