The student group Active Minds recently invited Frank Warren, the creator of PostSecret, an online "community," to speak in Spaulding Auditorium on April 23. If you're uninformed, as I was, PostSecret is a blog that features artistic designs of anonymous written secrets. It's like the "Fmylife.com" of the snooty, artistic, self-pitying world, so people phrase their secrets more meaningfully, and transpose them over pictures of sad animals. Here's a good sample: "If you hadn't ever left, I never would have found myself. Thank you." This quote is pasted on a picture of baby chickens, with one colored in hot pink. Just dripping with potent symbolism.
I'd like to use this column to post a secret for you. And for my own protection, I'd like to keep it anonymous. "My college just spent $11,386 of student activities funds to have a blogger talk to students about his personal secret-compiling website."
Let's just say that by sponsoring this event, the Special Programs and Event Committee showed less tact than whoever thought it would be a good idea to call a dance the "Pharaoh's Ball" during Passover. Seriously, did no one find that funny? I forgive you, Egyptian Formal Committee (funded by the Special Pharaoh and Exodus Committee).
Here's another secret: there's an ongoing rumor that the African American Society will now have to apply to the Undergraduate Funding Committee (which gives out money out of student activities fees to eligible student groups) for funds it has been automatically given in the past. Oh, here's another one: one can assume that the $18,000-a-year expense of the party pack is, without a doubt, in jeopardy. And Lone Pine is closing. And administrators and faculty may have a lingering fear for their job security. And UFC is sure to be tightening up its allocations this year, even though the amount each student pays for student activities will stay the same. And tuition just went up. And worst of all, the Food Court TV wasn't even turned on today, failing to let me know that they were serving taco hats! And, in this economy, I've heard that Food Court is thinking of downsizing them to the less well-known but more cost-effective taco yarmulke.
Simply put, the student funding system is labyrinthine. I have tried to accurately portray this system to the best of my ability, but as you will see it is exceedingly complex.
SPEC is a committee that gives out money (using student activities fees) to student events with total budgets that exceed $5,000. UFC also is responsible for student activities fees, and doles them out to all of the student organizations (or the umbrella organizations for student groups) like Programming Board, Student Assembly, the Council on Student Organizations and the Greek Leadership Council. Each has a representative on both SPEC and UFC. However, the actual decision to fund events and budgets are made in separate meetings, with the representative from each student group pulling for his or her own organization.
Is our funding system the best way to allocate money to a plethora of activities that appeal to campus? Are expensive speakers and bands the most effective way to spend our money? Is there any better alternative? Can I have my $75 back, or has Frank Warren already spent it on gold-plating his second therapist?
If our funds must go towards activities open to all of campus, I have some suggestions. I just paid $70 to join the Boxing Club, when the competent students and coaches could clearly have been compensated by available funds. Why are work-study salaries less than ideal? Why not keep party packs (if they're at risk) if the price is comparable to this one speaker? Give fraternities some money to help them pay for open parties? Or put money towards keeping Food Court open another hour on weekends?
This is truly a call for clarity. Every student group's expenses should be compiled in a single Excel document and sent to every student in a campus-wide e-mail. Everyone will be publicly accountable, and our funding system will be open for public debate. Let's see the mangled skeleton of our funding system. Even if the records are available to students, we should be forced, by e-mail, to confront our fiscal ossuary head on.
Bring on the bones.
