BRITNEY MALONEY
News Assistant
SGA passed a resolution to seek an increase the student programming fee from $45 a semester to $54 a semester at Wednesday night’s meeting, an increase of $18 for the school year.
Dean of Students Mark Davis will bring the resolution to a finance committee within the Pepperdine administration that will make the final decision on the fee increase.
The members of SGA did not come to the decision quickly. Wednesday’s meeting was the second consecutive meeting where an increase was debated. Initially, the resolution proposed increasing the fee by $30 per year, but both sides came to the compromise of $18 per year.
The basis of the compromise stemmed mainly from the general consensus that ICC needs additional funds.
“ICC needs to move out from SGA, and they need an operating budget,” said SGA President Leon Dixson. “They are going to have to bring on an E-board, which is going to take on a lot of money.”
Though the majority of SGA members agreed with Dixson, senior Sen. Dinah Galley said, “I believe that there isn’t enough accountability with how clubs spend the money. Clubs will get money from ICC, and it will sit there. They won’t put on events.”
One of the most heavily debated elements of the fee increase concerned the ability of SGA to spend funds wisely.
Junior Sen. Trent Allen said SGA should first concentrate on how it spends its money.
“I think that before we allocate more money we need to use the money that we have efficiently,” Allen said. “I have been doing IFC (Inter-Fraternity Council) for a couple years with just $1,000 and we are doing well. SGA is fine with the money we have now.”
Freshman Sen. Manelay Gutierrez agreed with Allen.
“I think students think that there are things that can be accomplished with the funds we have now,” Gutierrez said. “I don’t think it’s fair to ask students for an increase when they don’t see results.”
Dixson told SGA members that the increase was vital to growth in SGA, ICC and SPB.
“If we don’t increase the fee there will be no movement, no growth,” Dixson said. “Even President Benton will tell you that you can’t just plan for today. You have to plan for the future.”
Junior Sen. Kevin Mills said that while ICC is the main reason for the increase, SGA should receive additional funds also.
“I believe that by the end of the semester we will see a need for more money,” Mills said. “If this isn’t passed we may be kicking ourselves in the next couple months.”
Senior Sen. John Jorden, who at last week’s meeting presented a resolution opposing the increase, offered to compromise.
More than two-thirds of SGA agreed with Jorden and voted in favor of the adjusted resolution to increase fees by $18 annually.
If the university’s finance committee decides to approve the increase, the advisors from SGA, SPB and ICC will meet to discuss how the funds are distributed.
Last year the advisers, composed of Michael Houston for SGA, Justin Schneider for SPB and Chris Van Velzer for ICC) decided on the distribution of the $45 per semester fee. They allotted $25 to SGA and $20 to SPB. This year they agreed that SPB needed more funds and gave $24 to SPB and $21 to SGA. Of the $21, $7 goes to ICC.
Students will not vote on the fee increase, but can vote on SGA constitutional amendments. Voting will occur next Wednesday online.
02-16-2006