“I think there are definitely people who tire of this, but this is right to go through,” said David Reeves, USG Treasurer after a long debate in the Alumni Lounge over club funding. The new representatives who were sworn in to Undergraduate Student Government (USG) in the previous week participated in their first general body meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 1. They found themselves meeting for nearly two hours to vote on additional funding for several registered student organizations (RSOs).
The IPC & Electronics Student Chapter at Michigan Tech initially requested $4,000 to cover travel for a conference in Chicago. The Ways and Means (WAM) committee recommended $1,600 instead, mentioning concerns over a high cost per attendee. Members of the club were present to argue their case for why the money was needed, though they reduced their initial request to $3,200. What followed was a series of questions from USG members and representatives questioning the club on how they expected to spend the money, if they had looked into any alternative funding, and if there was enough interest in the event to justify the expenditure. After debate, USG representatives were not convinced the extra funding was needed, and the vote for the reduced $1,600 allocation passed 19-0-6.
The Huskies Pep Band requested $9,600 to purchase new instruments and earplugs, WAM recommended reducing the amount to $4,000 instead. The Pep Band was also present to argue their case, and representatives began debating another funding request right off the tail of the last. WAM reduced the amount of funding due to its unprecedented size relative to the fact Pep Band is currently a normal RSO and not a Special Budget Group (SBG). SBGs are organizations that require different budgetary freedom due to the unique nature of the organization, such as WMTU, MUB Board, and USG themselves. The Pep Band is currently trying to become an SBG this year, and representatives noted that it might be best to wait until a decision was made on that before handing the band such a large sum of money.
Representatives did sympathize with the band’s need for new earplugs as a safety concern, as well as the need for more instruments for the band to continue growing. In light of this, representatives agreed to increase the allocation to $5,000. One of the new representatives, Jasper Gustafson, sympathized with the band and motioned to increase the funding to the original $9,600. This motion was seconded and debated, though it failed 5-13-7. Representatives passed the $5,000 allocation 21-1-3.
“When we’re dealing with a lot of student money we tend to try and take our time,” said USG Representative Nathan Lithgow. “Especially if the organization is representing themselves.” New representatives got to see that time and care firsthand during the debates last week. Reeves found this to be a good opportunity for them to learn more about the government process, saying, “I think it’s good to have as much debate as is needed. I think it’s good to show because we have such a new body.”
Also of note is the addition of another new Fourth-Year Representative. Kyle Hildegrand is a fourth year computer engineering student who is also a current member of Copper Country Robotics and the Sigma Pi fraternity.
Requests by the Dungeons and Dragons (DND) Club, Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers, National Broomball at Michigan Tech, and the Fishing Club were also discussed, though only the requests by the DND Club and the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers were voted on. Members of these orgs did not attend the meeting.
The DND club requested $275 for fees to the IRS to become a tax exempt organization.WAM recommended sending them $0 over concerns that the paperwork was not done by a tax professional. The WAM recommendation passed 24-0-1.
The Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers requested $965.08 to attend a national convention; WAM recommended only $400. The society initially requested $2,000 for the trip, but were capped at $965.08 by USG based on their budget. The WAM recommendation passed 20-0-6.
Next week, USG will be voting on WAM requests for the National Broomball Team and the Fishing Club. For more information see the USG Meeting Minutes on their website at usg.mtu.edu/documents/.
