[948] in UA Senate
Spring 2011 Budget
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Alex Dehnert)
Mon Nov 29 19:31:26 2010
Date: Mon, 29 Nov 2010 19:31:20 -0500
From: Alex Dehnert <adehnert@MIT.EDU>
To: UA Treasurer <ua-treasurer@mit.edu>
CC: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?=22Jont=E9_Craighead_=28UA_Speaker=29=22?=
<ua-speaker@mit.edu>,
ua-senate@mit.edu
In-Reply-To: <AANLkTik9x2ne6MYxPofTPdYJvcxEHWKD8zBhSe21mG5c@mail.gmail.com>
I had some questions about the budget that I figured I'd get down in
writing (slightly) before the meeting.
First, on a general note: Where's the defense? Senate last year approved
language saying that "The UA Treasurer shall then include an overall
budget defense with his budget." (FPRC report, page 9). In addition to
being required, I think it's a good idea --- many of these questions are
things I would have expected to see addressed in a good defense.
On a minor note: what's up with the Transaction Record and
Student-Faculty Dinners sheets in the spreadsheet? If you're not going
to fill them in, leave them out.
I see the constituency fund shrunk. Can you explain why? I get the
impression that people running events are spending the full $150 without
much trouble. I have no real objection to, say, having concluded that we
only spent $2000 so the $4500 again would be overkill (at least, from
the budgeting perspective), and representing that with an expected value
of $75/person. Cutting the per-person cap is slightly more problematic.
I see the overallocation went up to 50%. While I don't know that I
oppose that change, I'd like to see a few words of explanation. (For
example, I can easily imagine that that represents historical spending,
or that you decided to draw down the Finboard reserve. However, I'd
rather not "imagine" --- I'd like to have your actual reasoning.)
Relatedly, in light of the huge Finboard allocation, I'm a little
confused by the simultaneous increase in the reserve withdrawal --- it
doesn't seem necessary to sufficiently fund groups...
Under Chief of Staff, I see "65 reps", $650, and $10/person. Is Alex
planning to pay for herself, or only meet with some reps, or...?
Lastly, IIRC, we split the Elections server between fall and spring in
the last budget? We should have a line item in the spring as a result.
Thanks,
Alex
On 11/27/2010 10:22 PM, Jonté Craighead (UA Speaker) wrote:
> Hi, everyone:
>
> I hope you're enjoying the extended weekend.
>
> Please find below a link to the agenda for Monday's Senate meeting. As I
> have mentioned, this will be a special non-voting meeting of Senate at
> which we will discuss the Spring 2010 Operating Budget
> <http://web.mit.edu/ua/senate/UAS42/SB2/Spring%202010%20Operating%20Budget-%20SB2.pdf>.
> *I encourage everyone to review the budget before the meeting *as doing
> so will lead to a more productive discussion at the meeting and inform
> the Special Budgetary Senate Committee on its recommendations. Please
> use ua-senate to begin asking questions or raising any concerns.
>
> Agenda: http://web.mit.edu/ua/senate/UAS42/agendas/2010-11-29.pdf
>
> Our guest on Monday will be Michael Owu, the Director of Real Estate for
> the MIT Investment Management Corporation (MITIMCo), and he will be
> seeking feedback on the Kendall Square Initiative. Please see the
> following MIT News Office articles for more information on this process
> as it has developed:
>
> * May 28, 2010: MIT Explores Plans for Enlivening Kendall Square
> <http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/kendall-square.html>
> * August 10, 2010: MIT Continues Outreach Regarding Kendall Square
> Redevelopment <http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/kendall-update.html>
> * September 15, 2010: Institute to Host Community Brainstorming
> Session on Kendall Square
> <http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2010/kendall-update-2.html>
>
> In addition to the feedback you've collected from your constituents, you
> may also find the minutes
> <http://web.mit.edu/ua/minutes/UAE42/minutes_42UAE7_110310.pdf> from the
> November 3rd Exec meeting useful in preparing for the discussion.
>
> I will not be holding office hours this Sunday evening as I am out of
> town, but please feel free to e-mail ua-senate-officers if you have any
> questions.
>
> Thanks,
> Jonté Craighead
>
> Speaker of the Senate
> MIT Undergraduate Association
> Course 1C: Class of 2013
