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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 7, 1972)
r editorial as O & y y Kafka-esque zilch The following guest opinion article is being run in lieu of an editorial today, due to the importance of the matter contained and its proximity to the editorial staff's opinions on the subject. Several weeks ago, the Daily Nebraskan printed an article concerning the 1972-73 ASUN budget. After reviewing the budget, there are a few questions about its allocations and the reasoning behind them left unanswered. Of the $4., . Z budget approved this year for ASUN, $24,034 or 58.5 per cent of the budget is solely for ASUN administrative expenses. "Administrative expenses" include office expenses, salary expenses, conferences, senate expenses, the contingency fund, the electoral commission, election publicity and other administrative costs. The budget lists a massive $1,250 for general stores, $525 for office supplies and $350 mfsceffaneous. So a tenth of the total budget goes for operating the ASUN office itself (without salaries) and 20 percent of the budget drains away on ASUN personnel salaries. Nearly $2,000 is allotted for attendance at three conferences, even though the budget concludes in another section that "sending students ... to conferences does very little to benefit the student body as a whole." In typical Kafka-esque style, ASUN sent three executives and one senator to conferences. What did we get for $2000? Zilch. In last year's election, 3,400 students voted for ASUN senators and executives. This year's electoral commission and election publicity cost students another $2,125-over 50 cents per voting student. The budget also includes a rather worthless "Administrative and Contingency Fund" which sets the student body back a nifty $6,000. Its express purpose is to provide money for organizations and ASUN executives as soon as they assume office, so there will be no lag in services from year to year. The budget states that "it is very counterproductive and frustrating for a new senate and executives to assume office with no resources with which to carry out any programs or objectives." Upon this note, the money for 1972-73 has not yet-in December-been distributed, a lag of nine months. Student organizations have suffered "frustration and counterproductivity" jan" entire first semester because they never got any funding first semester, the Contingency Fund notwithstanding. The budget for 72-73 allocates a scraggly $5,500 to student organizations out of a f P"" mmrm wim PW . CJ OP THOSE j AUAIAYS W V NEW SCOBS' 7 "THAT lONfr HAIR, (Muoy THOSE S LOSSY CLOTHES, K 1 f9 THEY'RE ALWAYS f' VOING TD PE4CE MARCHES... $41,000 total budget noneof which could be spent first semester due to delays. The the reason the ASUN administration has been so tortoise-like in funding student organizations is that it would rather not fund them in the first place. ASUN found that "student special interest groups are a legitimate and important sector of the University community. However, funding for these organizations should not come from student fee monies allocated to ASUN, but rather from other sources within and outside the University." Like the CIA, maybe? Thre's something very strange about a budget that uses student fee money to pay salaries, buy office supplies, jet people to conferences, elect new officials, but has only measley resources for organizations that actually benefit the i student. &trv '' ; More ,than 50 per cent of the-budget simply perpetuates the ASUN do-nothing bureaucracy. But what about the rest of the budget? Thus far this year, virtually no results have been obtained from the various committees and project areas funded in the remaining portion of the budget. Quite obviously, something is wrong. Perhaps we are mistaken about the purpose of student government. It is meant to be for and of the students, but instead we find ourselves with an unwieldly, motionless blob whose only contribution is self-perpetuation and which has lost all responsiveness to student needs. Sue Brown Chris Stout Sara Schwieder Match girl still waits for group's ASUN funds miche e coye mind If you happen to be passing by the corner of 14th and R streets sometime this week, be sure to stop and take a look around. You'll probably notice a small wooden stand set up somewhere in the general vicinity, and a small, semi-fro2en student standing nearby. She (the student) is trying to sell little bundles of matchsticks, but I'm afraid she herself uses more matches than she sells by lighting them sporadically in an effort to keep warm. I don't have a fireplace, and have never been really big on smoking, but I've always had this thing about Charles Dickens, so I dug into my pockets and approached this matchstick girl more out of guilt than real desire. Her lips and fingers were beginning to match the color of her coat, a deep blue, so I figured that if I planned to be very friendly, I was going to have to make it quick. But before I could even say a word, she sort of smiled and said, "I know what you're thinking. 'What's a nice girl like me doing in a place like this.' Well, do you see that corner window up there on the third floor of the Union?" I looked in the , direction of her pointed finger to the student government office. "Why don't you just trot right on up to that room and ask some of the people you find there why I'm out here peddling my wares in the streets." To say the least, I was somewhat taken aback. I could still remember the days when ASUN, at least in theory, was a place where students could organize around self -initiated projects and local and national Issues. Somehow I couldn't quite make the connection between ASUN and selling matchsticks. As soon as her coughing subsided, I started to ask questions. "What do you mean? Since when has ASUN been in the exploitation business?" She sniffed. "It's like this. ASUN gets around 80 cents from every student each semester in student activity fees. That's around $30-40,000 a year. This year they decided to re-arrange their funding priorities and procedures, with the result that they allocated only $5,500 to their budget committee to help fund the student groups that need financial support. "I can't say I agree with the small allocation they made to help the very students who support them, but here's the real bite. That $5,500 is still sitting there. They still haven't funded any student groups, and now almost an entire semester has passed by. "Many on-going student groups can't pay their bills, let alone make plans for the up-coming year. I've heard that even a service-oriented group like the Women's Resource Center is having major problems just paying its phone bill, and it had its, budget request into ASUN last June. "It seems to me ASUN exists to help student groups organize and be of service of the University community; it shouldn't be the major force to hinder student activity. Someone said that 'progress Is more than rhetoric' "It would seem that ASUN is currently mis-spelling progress into bureaucracy and insufficient planning. I'm trying to raise a little money to see my group through until February, but I'd much rather take these matches and set a fire under some of those ASUN people to get them moving." What could I possibly, say to someone with this much dedication? I bought as many matches as I could carry, and speechless, walked off. The facts speak for themselves. page 4 daily nebraskan thursday, december 7, 1972 - ' ..'.'.-.. f ..-....... . . . . . .- - . . . . . . . .- .' .- , .- . .-.-. .-. , . . -.- ,- , - - . . - - - f - . , j. . k. i