Block funding is a major vote of confidence from the student body. It means students are willing to guarantee a portion of their activities fee to different organizations for two years, bypassing Student Union’s funding process.

We have full confidence that both Campus Y and EST can be trusted with their block allocations, and that the money so allocated will be well spent. Therefore, we urge the student body to approve their block funding requests during SU elections next Tuesday and Wednesday.

Campus Y is a massive community service organization, boasting over 400 student volunteers. They need the block funding to have flexibility to change allocations to the 16 different community service programs under their umbrella. Sometimes they cut programs, and sometimes students create new programs. Yet SU rules forbid Campus Y from moving money out of a dying or dead program into a new one, or from reallocating significant sums because programs’ needs change. Block funding would allow them to work around these constraints.

Further, Campus Y hasn’t received all the funding it wants from SU, and it’s unlikely they’ll be fully funded by another year of SU-approved funding. Their mission is quite valuable, especially compared with other student groups. They don’t deserve budget cuts in a time when their programs are expanding. Giving them block funding would ensure that they get the money they actually need, not what SU thinks they need. The requested sum is modest, considering Campus Y’s mission and performance: just $6.57 per student.

We’re satisfied with their internal budget controls. Each program submits detailed budgets to the Campus Y Executive Council, and the Council regularly reviews each program under a “live, die or modify” policy. That’s not a sign of a bloating bureaucracy.

EST is an even easier case to endorse. They want $1.49 per student, making EST the cheapest insurance policy you’ll ever buy. As the campus emergency medical team, they make sure students who hit the bottle too hard are given appropriate medical attention, not to mention covering other medical emergencies, like sports injuries and common sicknesses. In all, the 45 members contribute 16,000 volunteer hours per year.

EST needs block funding so they have budgetary flexibility. Their truck is equipped with expensive medical equipment, and in the case of a malfunction, the gear has to be replaced promptly. That’s not something that can be budgeted for in advance, and SU’s budget appeals would be awfully slow. Plus, these expenditures can get large, and EST needs a guarantee that they’ll have the money to serve students; they shouldn’t have to worry about even the very small chance that SU would deny them funding.

As far as accountability goes, EST has faced increased costs this year, but they’re not passing the buck. EMT class prices are up, for example, but they’re fundraising for the difference. A look at their expenditures on SU’s Web site shows a frugal student group, too.

Block funding doesn’t cost you anything extra. It just guarantees a certain portion of your activities fee to a specific group. Both Campus Y and EST deserve that guarantee, so be sure to vote for them next Tuesday and Wednesday on WebSTAC.

Popularity: 1% [?]

 Print This Post

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 30th, 2005 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Forum. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.