UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
THURSDAY
The Student Voice Since 1903
MARCH 2. 2000
Got a minuet...
The UCO Cello Ensemble entertains students with a free concert in the food court on Feb. 29. The ensemble performed three pieces: Benedictus, Pony Blues, and three movements from Mozart. Ensemble member Tom McCullough wrote Benedictus and member Keith Tiller arranged Pony Blues written by Charlie Patton. Ensemble member include (left to right) Dr. Tess RemySchumacher, Jennifer Mills, Keith Tiller, Brandy Owens, Jennifer Armstrong, Brian Smith, Austin Speer and Nathan Diekman.
—Staff photo by Chieko Hara
UCOSA cuts activity fee; all organizations affected By N. David Owens
Staffririter The UCO Student Association (UCOSA) is cutting all student organization budgets in anticipation of a two percent decrease in activity fee revenue, according to UCOSA documents. UCOSA's estimated $19,700 budget cut will absorb 50 percent of the student fee decrease, according to UCOSA documents. "The question is, would we like an-across-the board cut, or micro-managed cuts," said Jarrett Jobe, UCOSA president. "All of the leadership was in favor of an acrossthe-board cut," Jobe said. "It is better for everyone to receive a small cut than to totally phase out some organizations," Jobe said. Airplane tickets and travel expenses are two main areas for cuts, Jobe said. Sending a person to a conference is good for that
person, but a party on campus serves hundreds of people, Jobe said. Not all student organizations receive UCOSA funds, Jobe said. "International and multicultural student organizations have their own separate budget," Jobe said. "Greeks traditionally never accept student funds since (they can limit who becomes a member)," Jobe said. "If you limit membership like that, I do not feel it is appropriate for you to be funded," Jobe said. Jobe is a member and former officer of the Greek society ACACIA. Additionally, many student organizations fail to produce a senator to represent them, or they raise their own funds, and do not feel that they need UCOSA funds, Jobe said. ".If you want to raise funds for your organization...we encourage that. It helps students, and encourages campus life," Jobe said.
There is opposition to the distribution of this budget cut. "The recommendation asking student organizations to absorb 50 percent of this shortfall when they only receive 13 percent of the budget is inconsistent with previously established precedents of fairness and equity," said UCOSA Senate Resolution 99-202. In this resolution, the Senate requested that the cut be applied to all areas of the student activity fee budget, not just student organizations. The student activity fee budget pays for athletics and other university programs, in addition to student organizations funded by UCOSA. Critics argue that UCOSA-funded organizations are unduly burdened with this budget shortfall, while non-UCOSA-funded areas such as sports and sports scholarships, international and multicultural activities and scholarship pageants will have minor cuts.