[98] in UA Senate
Re: UA budgeting principles
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jason Scott)
Thu Oct 15 00:08:18 2009
In-Reply-To: <4AD69DDF.5060204@MIT.EDU>
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:07:32 -0400
From: Jason Scott <jascott88@gmail.com>
To: Adam Bockelie <bockelie@mit.edu>
Cc: Janet Li <jli12@mit.edu>, Paul Youchak <youchakp@mit.edu>,
Catherine Olsson <catherio@mit.edu>, Andrew Lukmann <lukymann@mit.edu>,
Alex Schwendner <alexrs@mit.edu>,
"Alex Dehnert (UA Treasurer)" <ua-treasurer@mit.edu>,
ua-senate@mit.edu, ua-discuss@mit.edu
--0016e646155a32db1c0475f16bba
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
I don't generally respond to these threads, but I just feel somewhat
strongly against food at meetings.
Not once in our four years has our council sponsored food at our meetings.
If having food at meetings is so important for efficiency, can people not
simply bring their own food to the meeting?
I'm a strong believer in having committee members being rewarded for
hardwork/planning. But I think that 14% of a budget spent on the committee
members themselves, is somewhat excessive.
How would people react if last year's senior class council spent over $30K
on food for only 8 people?
-Jason
On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 11:58 PM, Adam Bockelie <bockelie@mit.edu> wrote:
> I would disagree. Being part of a committee/senate/anything else in the UA
> is a lot of work, and most people are already busy with other activities.
> Having money to spend on food for a meeting means that people can focus on
> getting work done, not on searching for food between meetings. People on
> committees are dedicated, and I don't think that food is generally an
> incentive. But, I do think that food helps make meetings more productive.
>
> Janet Li wrote:
>
>> I really like Catherine's idea of the collection jar for food for Senate
>> meetings. I also agree with Paul that it doesn't seem all that necessary to
>> have so much of our budget go towards providing food at committee meetings.
>> People on committees should be dedicated enough to not need food as an
>> incentive to come to meetings, anyway.
>> ---
>> Janet Li
>> Baker Senator
>> MIT Class of 2012
>> Dept. of Biological Engineering
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 11:07 PM, Paul Youchak <youchakp@mit.edu <mailto:
>> youchakp@mit.edu>> wrote:
>>
>> A few comments:
>>
>> A quick calculation for this years budget makes the cost spent on
>> food for meetings for various committees (and poland spring water)
>> to be 5675 dollars which is 14% of our budget. This seems to be a
>> pretty large sum and percentage. Saving this money and giving it to
>> Finboard would be quite significant.
>>
>> I understand the logic in moving the Senate elections to the fall so
>> that Freshmen could participate. This being said, I think it would
>> be worth considering revising this and moving the elections back to
>> the Spring. We could withhold a few open Freshman seats to be run
>> with the class council (independent of living group) allowing for
>> their inclusion in the fall as well. This process should allow
>> Senators for the coming year to be involved in the budgeting process
>> and any other events which might be taking place. For instance this
>> would have allowed for the Senators to help the Exec on the task
>> force report this year and get involved in other projects as soon as
>> the school year begin. Returning senators would also feel a greater
>> obligation to be involved instead of waiting for the fall session to
>> start.
>>
>> I, being a new Senator this year, do feel that I have relatively no
>> idea what is going on for these discussion and because of it do not
>> feel it is my place to question the judgment of those who know much
>> more about the topic than I.
>>
>> back to work,
>>
>> Paul
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Catherine Olsson wrote:
>>
>> I strongly agree with Alex S's sentiments that we should favor
>> putting money towards student groups instead of our own
>> initiatives. I think at the very least, as Andrew brought up, we
>> should hold ourselves to the same standard as Finboard holds
>> student groups (which will be easier if Finboard's standards
>> become more clearly stated and publicized as recommended by the
>> FPRC). If we don't hold ourselves to the same standards as the
>> groups we're withholding money from, then it seems clear to me
>> that the money is not going to its best use.*
>>
>> Thanks, Andrew, for the relevant history. Would it make sense
>> for us to extend the period of the summer budget through the
>> second meeting of the subsequent fall's Senate session? It seems
>> like this would prevent money from being spent before the fall
>> budget is approved, as happened with Athletics Weekend and other
>> expenditures this cycle.
>>
>> I would also be in favor of putting a collection jar out at
>> Senate, Exec, and committee meetings so that we can pay for some
>> of our own food. I greatly appreciate having food at Senate
>> meetings, as it means I don't need to worry about finding dinner
>> on an evening which is already very busy. However, paying a few
>> bucks for the food I eat so that we aren't entirely taxing the
>> student body for meals most of them don't eat (even though
>> they're welcome to) seems very reasonable. Other students who
>> come to meetings would still be able to eat the food and would
>> be encouraged to chip in, too. Does anyone else agree?
>>
>> I'm very glad we're discussing this issue. Given that next
>> term's budgeting is starting soon, I think now is exactly the
>> right time to pull our thoughts together.
>>
>> - Catherine Olsson, Random Hall Senator and Senate
>> Representative to Finboard
>>
>>
>> *It should be noted that much of the funding denied to student
>> groups by Finboard is because the groups' proposals seem not
>> well-planned-out or not worth the money (such as t-shirts), not
>> _because_ Finboard doesn't have enough money. But if Finboard
>> had more money, we could relax some of our guidelines, enabling
>> us to fund more conferences, fund capital such as costumes and
>> musical instruments more than our current caps, fund more
>> travel, enable groups that maintain a library (such as MITSFS
>> and Anime Club) to acquire more new material, and allow groups
>> who wish to hold a vast number of events to hold all their
>> events and not just some.
>>
>>
>> Andrew Lukmann wrote:
>>
>> If Alex's sentiments are shared by a number of other new
>> senators... it might be time to re-investigate the timing of
>> future budget approvals as well.
>>
>> History:
>> In the somewhat distant past (6-7+ years ago) Senate was
>> elected in the Spring with the incoming UA P/VP. As a
>> result, the incoming Senate and the incoming administration
>> worked together to compile and approve a budget before the
>> Summer. However, with a number of changes to the living
>> group constituencies, most importantly Freshmen on Campus,
>> the decision was made to move Senate elections to the Fall
>> to allow freshmen to vote (and run in) the Senate contest.
>> From what I recall, the first year of this change, the Fall
>> budget was actually voted upon by the outgoing Senate,
>> allowing the administration to have a complete and approved
>> budget to operate on over the summer, during orientation and
>> during the Fall term. This, however, served to largely
>> hamstring the newly-elected Senate regarding financial
>> policy until at least the Spring budget was discussed in
>> December. As a result, this was altered (about 5 years ago)
>> to the current arrangement where the outgoing Senate (in the
>> spring) grants an advance for the administration to utilize
>> over the Summer/Orientation which is disbursed by the
>> ExecComm in lieu of Senate. Then the Fall budget is taken up
>> and approved by the new Senate when it is finally assembled
>> and called to order by early-mid October.
>>
>> Problems:
>> It seems that in an effort to address problems of the past,
>> we in past UA administrations (and past sessions of Senate)
>> have helped to create new problems. It seems that even
>> though the intent of moving Fall budget approval to the Fall
>> was to empower new Senators, this has been less than
>> effective. New senators are just beginning to find their way
>> and are reticent to question the wisdom of a budget handed
>> to them by more experienced officers like the President,
>> Treasurer and (often) Speaker. Situations are also
>> encountered where the executive assumes that certain
>> budgetary line items will be approved and preemptively
>> spends the money (such as Athletics Weekend), effectively
>> circumventing Senate's oversight responsibility. Not having
>> an approved budget until mid October also hampers the
>> ability of the Executive and it's Committees to engage in
>> activities and programming early in the term.
>>
>> If other people in the UA agree that this is an important
>> enough issue, I encourage you to re-investigate the
>> possibility of making changes in the budget calendar and
>> taking a closer look at the pros and cons of different
>> options. In the end, the balance will almost always be
>> between empowering the current (or most recently) elected
>> representatives and having an experienced enough group of
>> Senators calling the shots that they can serve as a
>> meaningful check against executive overreaching or "mission
>> creep."
>>
>> Yours in the UA,
>> Andrew L.
>>
>>
>> Alex Schwendner wrote:
>>
>> I would like to advocate that our budgeting goal should
>> be to allocate
>> more money to student groups. Here's why:
>>
>> Our goal, as the Undergraduate Association, is to make
>> things better
>> for undergraduates. When it comes to money, this means
>> that we should
>> see that money gets spent on the things which most
>> benefit MIT
>> undergraduates. This might mean that we spend the money
>> ourselves or
>> this might mean that we give it to student groups who
>> can use it.
>> There are plenty of student groups who do wonderful and
>> amazing
>> things. All of us can think of student groups which get
>> much of their
>> funding from the UA which have made our time at MIT more
>> worthwhile.
>> Our goal, as the UA, should not be to do awesome things,
>> but rather to
>> see that awesome things get done.
>>
>> Sometimes, of course, this will mean that we should
>> spend money on
>> projects conceived by the UA and sometimes this will
>> mean that we
>> should give money to student groups. However, there is a
>> natural,
>> institutional bias toward spending the money ourselves.
>> We need to
>> fight that bias. Since we, the UA, get first crack at
>> the money, it's
>> easy to think of cool things which we can do with the
>> money while
>> forgetting about the very real and very cool things
>> which student
>> groups will *not* be able to do without that money. We
>> can see this
>> "mission creep" in UA funding in the way that the money
>> allocated to
>> UA committees has increased in past years. Yes, the UA
>> does more with
>> the increased money, but it is not always clear that
>> it's spent better
>> than it could be spent by student groups. The standards
>> which hold for
>> receiving funding from the UA general budget should be
>> analogous to
>> the standards which hold for receiving funding from UA
>> Finboard. I
>> will note that while UA committees received basically
>> everything that
>> they asked for in the Fall UA budget, student groups
>> which applied to
>> UA Finboard received less than 30% of their requests in
>> the most
>> recent funding cycle.
>>
>> Therefore, during the Spring 2010 budgeting process, I
>> intend to push
>> for allocating more money for student groups. Projects
>> which we choose
>> not to fund from the UA general budget can seek funding
>> through UA
>> Finboard, from LEF or ARCADE, from the MIT
>> Administration, or from
>> other funding sources.
>>
>> Please discuss.
>>
>> Alex Schwendner
>>
>> On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 12:52 AM, Alex Dehnert (UA
>> Treasurer)
>> <ua-treasurer@mit.edu <mailto:ua-treasurer@mit.edu>>
>> wrote:
>>
>> As several people have pointed out, the UA
>> spends quite a bit of money on
>> events (about a third of last semester's budget)
>> and focused projects (like
>> PLUS --- about a tenth of last semester's UA
>> budget). As Andrew Lukmann
>> pointed out last week, committees are spending
>> almost twice as much in Fall
>> 2009's budget as in Spring 2007's budget.
>>
>> Unfortunately, it is now a little bit late to
>> make major changes to the
>> Fall 2009 budget. Last week's meeting was
>> intended to allow that, and we
>> spent a great deal of time on it then. I also
>> solicited feedback late Friday
>> night (or really Saturday morning), and didn't
>> receive any. Of course, you
>> are well within your rights to amend the budget
>> at this point. (Though
>> Athletics Weekend has already happened, so I'd
>> rather you didn't amend
>> that...)
>>
>> However, the Spring 2010 budget has not begun
>> being compiled. In preparing
>> the the Fall 2009 budget, I (and I believe
>> committee chairs and the Special
>> Budgetary Committee) generally followed
>> precedent as to events and amounts.
>>
>> In some sense, there are (at least) two options
>> for guiding principles to
>> take in producing the budget:
>> (1) Many of the UA-run events are more useful
>> than the events and
>> programming (Finboard-funded) student groups
>> would spend the money on
>> (2) Alternatively, that events and programs such
>> as Athletics Weekend or
>> PLUS aren't worth taking the money away from
>> those student groups
>>
>> We've recently been defaulting to the former
>> guiding principle. However, I
>> would encourage the Senate to seriously consider
>> which is preferable and
>> pass appropriate legislation indicating a
>> preference.
>>
>> I would be *thrilled* to have such guidance, and
>> would happily incorporate
>> it into next semester's budget. (I warn you,
>> however, that committee chairs
>> will probably be asked to begin budgeting in
>> about two weeks.)
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Alex Dehnert
>> UA Treasurer
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
> --
> Adam Bockelie
> 801.209.7233
> <bockelie@mit.edu>
>
> Massachusetts Institute of Technology
> Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
> Class of 2011
>
--
Jason Alexander Scott
Class Council President
MIT Class of 2010
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I don't generally respond to these threads, but I just feel somewhat st=
rongly against food at meetings.<br><br>Not once in our four years has our =
council sponsored food at our meetings. If having food at meetings is so im=
portant for efficiency, can people not simply bring their own food to the m=
eeting?<br>
<br>I'm a strong believer in having committee members being rewarded fo=
r hardwork/planning. But I think that 14% of a budget spent on the committe=
e members themselves, is somewhat excessive.<br><br>How would people react =
if last year's senior class council spent over $30K on food for only 8 =
people?<br>
<br>-Jason<br><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 11:58 =
PM, Adam Bockelie <span dir=3D"ltr"><<a href=3D"mailto:bockelie@mit.edu"=
>bockelie@mit.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote=
" style=3D"border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0=
.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
I would disagree. =A0Being part of a committee/senate/anything else in the =
UA is a lot of work, and most people are already busy with other activities=
. =A0Having money to spend on food for a meeting means that people can focu=
s on getting work done, not on searching for food between =A0meetings. =A0P=
eople on committees are dedicated, and I don't think that food is gener=
ally an incentive. =A0But, I do think that food helps make meetings more pr=
oductive.<br>
<br>
Janet Li wrote:<br>
<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, =
204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><div class=3D"im"=
>
I really like Catherine's idea of the collection jar for food for Senat=
e meetings. I also agree with Paul that it doesn't seem all that necess=
ary to have so much of our budget go towards providing food at committee me=
etings. People on committees should be dedicated enough to not need food as=
an incentive to come to meetings, anyway.<br>
---<br>
Janet Li<br>
Baker Senator<br>
MIT Class of 2012<br>
Dept. of Biological Engineering<br>
<br>
<br></div><div><div></div><div class=3D"h5">
On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 11:07 PM, Paul Youchak <<a href=3D"mailto:youcha=
kp@mit.edu" target=3D"_blank">youchakp@mit.edu</a> <mailto:<a href=3D"ma=
ilto:youchakp@mit.edu" target=3D"_blank">youchakp@mit.edu</a>>> wrote=
:<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0A few comments:<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0A quick calculation for this years budget makes the cost spent on<b=
r>
=A0 =A0food for meetings for various committees (and poland spring water)<=
br>
=A0 =A0to be 5675 dollars which is 14% of our budget. =A0This seems to be =
a<br>
=A0 =A0pretty large sum and percentage. =A0Saving this money and giving it=
to<br>
=A0 =A0Finboard would be quite significant.<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0I understand the logic in moving the Senate elections to the fall s=
o<br>
=A0 =A0that Freshmen could participate. =A0This being said, I think it wou=
ld<br>
=A0 =A0be worth considering revising this and moving the elections back to=
<br>
=A0 =A0the Spring. =A0We could withhold a few open Freshman seats to be ru=
n<br>
=A0 =A0with the class council (independent of living group) allowing for<b=
r>
=A0 =A0their inclusion in the fall as well. =A0This process should allow<b=
r>
=A0 =A0Senators for the coming year to be involved in the budgeting proces=
s<br>
=A0 =A0and any other events which might be taking place. =A0For instance t=
his<br>
=A0 =A0would have allowed for the Senators to help the Exec on the task<br=
>
=A0 =A0force report this year and get involved in other projects as soon a=
s<br>
=A0 =A0the school year begin. =A0Returning senators would also feel a grea=
ter<br>
=A0 =A0obligation to be involved instead of waiting for the fall session t=
o<br>
=A0 =A0start.<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0I, being a new Senator this year, do feel that I have relatively no=
<br>
=A0 =A0idea what is going on for these discussion and because of it do not=
<br>
=A0 =A0feel it is my place to question the judgment of those who know much=
<br>
=A0 =A0more about the topic than I.<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0back to work,<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0Paul<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0Catherine Olsson wrote:<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0I strongly agree with Alex S's sentiments that we shoul=
d favor<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0putting money towards student groups instead of our own<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0initiatives. I think at the very least, as Andrew brought u=
p, we<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0should hold ourselves to the same standard as Finboard hold=
s<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0student groups (which will be easier if Finboard's stan=
dards<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0become more clearly stated and publicized as recommended by=
the<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0FPRC). If we don't hold ourselves to the same standards=
as the<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0groups we're withholding money from, then it seems clea=
r to me<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0that the money is not going to its best use.*<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Thanks, Andrew, for the relevant history. Would it make sen=
se<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0for us to extend the period of the summer budget through th=
e<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0second meeting of the subsequent fall's Senate session?=
It seems<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0like this would prevent money from being spent before the f=
all<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0budget is approved, as happened with Athletics Weekend and =
other<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0expenditures this cycle.<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0I would also be in favor of putting a collection jar out at=
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Senate, Exec, and committee meetings so that we can pay for=
some<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0of our own food. I greatly appreciate having food at Senate=
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0meetings, as it means I don't need to worry about findi=
ng dinner<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0on an evening which is already very busy. However, paying a=
few<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0bucks for the food I eat so that we aren't entirely tax=
ing the<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0student body for meals most of them don't eat (even tho=
ugh<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0they're welcome to) seems very reasonable. Other studen=
ts who<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0come to meetings would still be able to eat the food and wo=
uld<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0be encouraged to chip in, too. Does anyone else agree?<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0I'm very glad we're discussing this issue. Given th=
at next<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0term's budgeting is starting soon, I think now is exact=
ly the<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0right time to pull our thoughts together.<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0- Catherine Olsson, Random Hall Senator and Senate<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Representative to Finboard<br>
<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0*It should be noted that much of the funding denied to stud=
ent<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0groups by Finboard is because the groups' proposals see=
m not<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0well-planned-out or not worth the money (such as t-shirts),=
not<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0_because_ Finboard doesn't have enough money. But if Fi=
nboard<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0had more money, we could relax some of our guidelines, enab=
ling<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0us to fund more conferences, fund capital such as costumes =
and<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0musical instruments more than our current caps, fund more<b=
r>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0travel, enable groups that maintain a library (such as MITS=
FS<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0and Anime Club) to acquire more new material, and allow gro=
ups<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0who wish to hold a vast number of events to hold all their<=
br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0events and not just some.<br>
<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Andrew Lukmann wrote:<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0If Alex's sentiments are shared by a number of =
other new<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0senators... it might be time to re-investigate the =
timing of<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0future budget approvals as well.<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0History:<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0In the somewhat distant past (6-7+ years ago) Senat=
e was<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0elected in the Spring with the incoming UA P/VP. As=
a<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0result, the incoming Senate and the incoming admini=
stration<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0worked together to compile and approve a budget bef=
ore the<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Summer. However, with a number of changes to the li=
ving<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0group constituencies, most importantly Freshmen on =
Campus,<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0the decision was made to move Senate elections to t=
he Fall<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0to allow freshmen to vote (and run in) the Senate c=
ontest.<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 From what I recall, the first year of this change,=
the Fall<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0budget was actually voted upon by the outgoing Sena=
te,<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0allowing the administration to have a complete and =
approved<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0budget to operate on over the summer, during orient=
ation and<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0during the Fall term. This, however, served to larg=
ely<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0hamstring the newly-elected Senate regarding financ=
ial<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0policy until at least the Spring budget was discuss=
ed in<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0December. As a result, this was altered (about 5 ye=
ars ago)<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0to the current arrangement where the outgoing Senat=
e (in the<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0spring) grants an advance for the administration to=
utilize<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0over the Summer/Orientation which is disbursed by t=
he<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0ExecComm in lieu of Senate. Then the Fall budget is=
taken up<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0and approved by the new Senate when it is finally a=
ssembled<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0and called to order by early-mid October.<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Problems:<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0It seems that in an effort to address problems of t=
he past,<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0we in past UA administrations (and past sessions of=
Senate)<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0have helped to create new problems. It seems that e=
ven<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0though the intent of moving Fall budget approval to=
the Fall<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0was to empower new Senators, this has been less tha=
n<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0effective. New senators are just beginning to find =
their way<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0and are reticent to question the wisdom of a budget=
handed<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0to them by more experienced officers like the Presi=
dent,<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Treasurer and (often) Speaker. Situations are also<=
br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0encountered where the executive assumes that certai=
n<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0budgetary line items will be approved and preemptiv=
ely<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0spends the money (such as Athletics Weekend), effec=
tively<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0circumventing Senate's oversight responsibility=
. Not having<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0an approved budget until mid October also hampers t=
he<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0ability of the Executive and it's Committees to=
engage in<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0activities and programming early in the term.<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0If other people in the UA agree that this is an imp=
ortant<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0enough issue, I encourage you to re-investigate the=
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0possibility of making changes in the budget calenda=
r and<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0taking a closer look at the pros and cons of differ=
ent<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0options. In the end, the balance will almost always=
be<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0between empowering the current (or most recently) e=
lected<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0representatives and having an experienced enough gr=
oup of<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Senators calling the shots that they can serve as a=
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0meaningful check against executive overreaching or =
"mission<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0creep."<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Yours in the UA,<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Andrew L.<br>
<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Alex Schwendner wrote:<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0I would like to advocate that our budgeting=
goal should<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0be to allocate<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0more money to student groups. Here's wh=
y:<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Our goal, as the Undergraduate Association,=
is to make<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0things better<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0for undergraduates. When it comes to money,=
this means<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0that we should<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0see that money gets spent on the things whi=
ch most<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0benefit MIT<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0undergraduates. This might mean that we spe=
nd the money<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0ourselves or<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0this might mean that we give it to student =
groups who<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0can use it.<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0There are plenty of student groups who do w=
onderful and<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0amazing<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0things. All of us can think of student grou=
ps which get<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0much of their<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0funding from the UA which have made our tim=
e at MIT more<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0worthwhile.<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Our goal, as the UA, should not be to do aw=
esome things,<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0but rather to<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0see that awesome things get done.<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Sometimes, of course, this will mean that w=
e should<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0spend money on<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0projects conceived by the UA and sometimes =
this will<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0mean that we<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0should give money to student groups. Howeve=
r, there is a<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0natural,<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0institutional bias toward spending the mone=
y ourselves.<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0We need to<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0fight that bias. Since we, the UA, get firs=
t crack at<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0the money, it's<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0easy to think of cool things which we can d=
o with the<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0money while<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0forgetting about the very real and very coo=
l things<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0which student<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0groups will *not* be able to do without tha=
t money. We<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0can see this<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0"mission creep" in UA funding in =
the way that the money<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0allocated to<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0UA committees has increased in past years. =
Yes, the UA<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0does more with<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0the increased money, but it is not always c=
lear that<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0it's spent better<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0than it could be spent by student groups. T=
he standards<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0which hold for<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0receiving funding from the UA general budge=
t should be<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0analogous to<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0the standards which hold for receiving fund=
ing from UA<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Finboard. I<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0will note that while UA committees received=
basically<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0everything that<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0they asked for in the Fall UA budget, stude=
nt groups<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0which applied to<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0UA Finboard received less than 30% of their=
requests in<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0the most<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0recent funding cycle.<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Therefore, during the Spring 2010 budgeting=
process, I<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0intend to push<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0for allocating more money for student group=
s. Projects<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0which we choose<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0not to fund from the UA general budget can =
seek funding<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0through UA<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Finboard, from LEF or ARCADE, from the MIT<=
br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Administration, or from<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0other funding sources.<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Please discuss.<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Alex Schwendner<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 12:52 AM, Alex Dehn=
ert (UA<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Treasurer)<br></div></div><div><div></div><=
div class=3D"h5">
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0<<a href=3D"mailto:ua-treasurer@mit.edu"=
target=3D"_blank">ua-treasurer@mit.edu</a> <mailto:<a href=3D"mailto:ua=
-treasurer@mit.edu" target=3D"_blank">ua-treasurer@mit.edu</a>>> wrot=
e:<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 <br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0As several people have poin=
ted out, the UA<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0spends quite a bit of money=
on<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0events (about a third of la=
st semester's budget)<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0and focused projects (like<=
br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0PLUS --- about a tenth of l=
ast semester's UA<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0budget). As Andrew Lukmann<=
br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0pointed out last week, comm=
ittees are spending<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0almost twice as much in Fal=
l<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A02009's budget as in Spr=
ing 2007's budget.<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Unfortunately, it is now a =
little bit late to<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0make major changes to the<b=
r>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Fall 2009 budget. Last week=
's meeting was<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0intended to allow that, and=
we<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0spent a great deal of time =
on it then. I also<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0solicited feedback late Fri=
day<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0night (or really Saturday m=
orning), and didn't<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0receive any. Of course, you=
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0are well within your rights=
to amend the budget<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0at this point. (Though<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Athletics Weekend has alrea=
dy happened, so I'd<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0rather you didn't amend=
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0that...)<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0However, the Spring 2010 bu=
dget has not begun<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0being compiled. In preparin=
g<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0the the Fall 2009 budget, I=
(and I believe<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0committee chairs and the Sp=
ecial<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Budgetary Committee) genera=
lly followed<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0precedent as to events and =
amounts.<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0In some sense, there are (a=
t least) two options<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0for guiding principles to<b=
r>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0take in producing the budge=
t:<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0(1) Many of the UA-run even=
ts are more useful<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0than the events and<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0programming (Finboard-funde=
d) student groups<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0would spend the money on<br=
>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0(2) Alternatively, that eve=
nts and programs such<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0as Athletics Weekend or<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0PLUS aren't worth takin=
g the money away from<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0those student groups<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0We've recently been def=
aulting to the former<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0guiding principle. However,=
I<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0would encourage the Senate =
to seriously consider<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0which is preferable and<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0pass appropriate legislatio=
n indicating a<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0preference.<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0I would be *thrilled* to ha=
ve such guidance, and<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0would happily incorporate<b=
r>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0it into next semester's=
budget. (I warn you,<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0however, that committee cha=
irs<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0will probably be asked to b=
egin budgeting in<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0about two weeks.)<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Thanks,<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Alex Dehnert<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0UA Treasurer<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 <br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</div></div></blockquote><font color=3D"#888888">
<br>
-- <br>
Adam Bockelie<br>
801.209.7233<br>
<<a href=3D"mailto:bockelie@mit.edu" target=3D"_blank">bockelie@mit.edu<=
/a>><br>
<br>
Massachusetts Institute of Technology<br>
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering<br>
Class of 2011<br>
</font></blockquote></div><br><br clear=3D"all"><br>-- <br>Jason Alexander =
Scott<br>Class Council President<br>MIT Class of 2010<br><br>
--0016e646155a32db1c0475f16bba--
