To the Editor:
This letter is written to clarify several of the points raised in Thursday's article "COSO slashes funds for student orgs" (Oct. 20).
Katie Silberman writes, "In past years, Mock Trial has asked for and received up to $10,000 from COSO [Council on Student Organizations]... this year, however... the team did not receive their expected budget." Mock Trial is undoubtedly a stellar performer among the College's non-athletic competitive teams, and each year it present sthe largest budget request to COSO from any of our more than 110 student organizations. Mock Trial budgets and allocations are actually well in excess of $10,000. Last year Mock Trial received an allocation of just over $22,000 (some of which was carried over to this year). The allocation for the 2005-06 school year, as decided at a meeting early this month, is $17,000.
For the past two years, COSO has informed the officers of Mock Trial after each allocation that they needed to seek outside funding and fundraise to meet some of their significant costs. The challenge to the current leadership of Mock Trial is that this message was not properly relayed from outgoing officers, and therefore this year's budget reduction comes as a surprise. COSO will continue to support Mock Trial organizationally and logistically as they develop a plan to raise all of its needed funds.
As Ms. Silberman correctly notes, the Undergraduate Finance Committee has allotted COSO $225,000 to allocate to our student organizations this year. The greatest challenge COSO faces is dividing those limited funds among so many talented and deserving student organizations. Our fiduciary responsibility to the UFC, the over-110 COSO organizations, and the student body as a whole demands that we make difficult decisions -- decisions that frequently require a compromise from the organizations seeking funding.
Despite the significant impact COSO has on student organizations and student life at the College, we have often been a body ill-defined and little-understood among the greater student population. Eighteen undergraduates (six members each from the sophomore, junior and senior classes), three faculty and administrators, and a non-voting chair comprise our membership. New members are selected each spring from the first-year class by a joint committee of COSO members, the Student Assembly President, and COSO organization presidents chosen by their peers. Our meetings are held Wednesdays from 3 to 5 p.m., when groups requesting funding have an opportunity to present their proposals. We discuss each proposal following its presentation, vote, and inform the organization of our decision.
I encourage anyone with questions or concerns about our funding or recognition processes to explore our website http://www.dartmouth.edu/~sao/coso/ or stop in to see us during office hours, from 6 to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Collis Center, room 205G.
