The Undergraduate Student Government had their weekly meeting Wednesday Feb. 12. During the meeting, MTU’s Ultimate Frisbee Club, DiscoTech, appealed the amount they were to be allocated for a Spring Break tournament in Denver, CO.
DiscoTech’s initial request of $5,068.66 was initially denied, with the Ways and Means committee (WAM) recommending $3,054. The two representatives from the DiscoTech club were present at this meeting to challenge the allocated amount. Due to an increase in attendance, the organization requested to increase their allocation past their original request, to $6,824.60. After providing additional information that was not presented during their earlier WAM meeting, their original request of $5,068.66 was passed. “So, they came with new information during this meeting, such as the fact that they presented that they would be doing scrimmages during the week in Denver, CO. This helps USG come up with some reasoning to give them this additional funding, which we were not originally presented,” said USG Treasurer David Reeves.
“It’s nice to get new information from clubs, because usually USG follows the Ways and Means recommendations without any new information presented. When we get new information, it’s nice to bring that into consideration so we can have that discussion.” The key information being that most of the days there would be actively competing, not resting and socializing, which was the initial understanding , and why they were denied. “We’d prefer to spend the opportunity fund on things that relate to a club’s purpose, otherwise it just takes away from other clubs if it’s just social.” Reeves concluded.
There was also another WAM request of $900 from the Wildlife Society to go to the Northcentral Section Student’s Conclave being held in Steven’s Point, WI. It passed 22-0-1.
At next week’s meeting, there will be two allocations voted on for the Muslim Student Association for their upcoming Ramadan events. One is to cover the cost of the community Iftar being moved to Dee Stadium and required transportation funds, and another one is for a new freezer being needed for halal food storage.
Also mentioned during the meeting was the existence of the Parent’s Fund, another resource for organizations seeking funding for their events. Their particular requirements for requests can be found at mtu.edu/deanofstudents/support/parents-fund/.
More information about USG, and their meeting minutes, can be found at usg.mtu.edu.
