Dolla Dolla Bill Yaalll....

So I just got home from a very long senate meeting referred to as FEB night ( Front End Budgeted groups and orgs ). Essentially there is money that the SGA gets to give to these certain (9 specifically) organizations that are top-notch super representative groups on campus that provide amazing programs. Here they are...

BSA - Black Student Alliance
CARE - group about sexual assault prevention
IFC-Inter Fraternity Council
Madison Equality - GLBTIQA awareness
Pan-Hellenic - Sororities
Student Ambassadors
UPB- University Program Board
NAACP- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

Now as we all know these groups and organizations, we know that they play significant roles in representing the University, promoting diversity, enhancing communication, developing better student relations, and putting together events for the entire community and campus. Every year these groups have to make a budget and lobby ( per se ) to the SGA about their group successes and failures, to produce a budget to continue their efforts for the upcoming year. Now those of you that are familiar, there is also another facet of money for student clubs and organizations to ask for, and that is contingency. The contingency process is sort of a long process ( ~ 1 month ) with a lot of bureaucratic work that needs to go into making a proposal for sponsoring an event, going to a conference, or purchasing resources for their endeavours. The catch is that in order to apply for contingency money from the SGA, you have to have exhausted all facets of your fundraising, and you must show that you desperately need the money ( max of $3000) to do what you want. The contingency money accumulates from whatever money isn't given out to FEB groups from the total money that the SGA deals with ( ~$500,000 ). The money leftover after FEB groups take theirs rolles over into the contingency pot so other orgs can apply for it. The Senate uses its discretion, based on the groups previous precedent and their abilities, to judge whether they deserve the money they want.

Now the problem is that after all the number crunching, taking into account all the money and where it went, this year we were left with absolutely nothing left over from the overall budget, so meaning there is the potential for no contingency next year or the years to come ( if the trend continues ). IF you want more info on contingency and how your organization or group can qualify and the process, here you go :

http://sga.jmu.edu/documents/contingency/The%20Joys%20of%20Contingency.ppt#265,1,Slide

Taking into account the issues with the budgets and the amount each FEB club wanted, the SGA had to decide on what aspect of spending it would take away from groups ( or what the group was willing to give up to still function ). This goes to show the strength and power struggle in SGA to deal with large organizations and effectively ( in an unbiased manner ) go about deciding on what should and shouldn't be funded. This brings up issues, how does this happen ? Who is judging ? Why did this group get this and not that one ? Why is this group getting more money then the other one ? There are many questions that can be asked, but the answers are to be upheld by the senators that SHOULD be deciding on behalf of their constituency, and at times I think people become biased since they have had limited experiences with some groups. It is not too crazy to say that they judge and assume a lot about events and people from the very little they have seen of them. So how do we solve this ?

MAKE NOISE ! You should be aware of things going on in your group or organization. You should know at least some of the people in your student government, and you should open up lines of communication to have your ideas and thoughts heard. The decisions are left to a small group of individuals; until you know those individuals, you won't know whether you agree or disagree with their ideals. Would you want that person making decisions about YOUR money which again trickles into what opportunities you have on campus ! ! We are all connected in some way, some of us just choose to look into it. So I urge you to make smart decisions with your activities on campus, join groups, know the groups your joining, know the people on this campus, know your student representatives, know the campus and community, because until you do, you will have no significant say in anything that happens on campus or your life in this jmu bubble...

SO, every groups budget was ripped apart during the meeting and judged for content, significance, and successes. But how much do the people of the senate know of the events if they have not been to them or seen them in action ? How can we judge these groups based on the opinion of the exec board giving their presentations that one single night of the year ? How can we judge the success of an event or program if we gauge our decision on the opinion of one or two people who went to the event and barely payed any attention ? How are we to gauge these facts objectively if most all of our thoughts act subjectively ?

If we are open minded, then lets be open minded about everything. If we care about spreading awareness then we would think of it objectively; we would be open in our beliefs and thoughts. We must be aware, we must pay attention, we should dig deeper, we should ask questions, we should care a little bit more. Even if its not for someone else, just do it for yourself, but do it...

We have the slogan " all together one " so lets really want to be that and not " all together one, as long as your not that different from everyone else ." We should think outside the box and not give in to our own mental slavery, lets try it for a change. Go to events you don't know about, join groups outside of your connection of friends, do something your not used to, listen to people and what they have to say, try to understand people for who they are ; try humility, because you cant look ahead if your looking down at everyone and everything...