Jessica Blackstock
Staff Writer
We all see it every year — the $90 charge that appears on our student bill with nothing but the words SGA fee written next to it. After seeing it, we all do the mental math and try to think for what the school needs an extra $200,000. They already charge us the cost of a new luxury vehicle to come here, so why the extra $90?
Well friends, that extra $90 is used to provide you with “extracurricular fun” or, in other words, funding for Programming Board and SGA.
Like most students, I often wonder where exactly all of my money goes at Pepperdine. As a senior, I have lost count of the number of times I have heard, “well at least they can afford to buy another palm tree” as students gripe over the allocation of funds.
Whether or not the palm-tree rumor is true, the comments make me think about the fiscal responsibility of the university. The allocation of funds is always a touchy topic, but becomes especially touchy when it involves funds that are specifically designated to directly enhance a student’s collegiate experience. Thus, I decided that it was time to investigate the SGA budget.
The 2004-2005 SGA budget is $148,536 which breaks down to $50 a year per student (PB gets the other $40). With this $148,536, the student-elected members of SGA are entrusted to spend these funds in ways that will best serve the students.
The budget breakdown is fairly simple. There are two categories: constitutional expenses and SGA expenses. The constitutional expenses are those areas that receive a certain amount of funding as stated in the SGA constitution. These include areas like the philanthropy fund, technology fund, IFC/Panhellenic, a refund to students in the International Programs and Inter-Club Council (ICC).
The rest of the budget falls into the category of SGA expenses, which include the budgets for each class, the E-board, SGA directors, SGA programming and a general fund. This is a particularly interesting part of the SGA budget — particularly the sections titled “E-board expenses” and “SGA programming.”
The E-board alone has been entrusted with $21,200 this year. Of this $21,200 of your money, $8,000 went to host a fall and a spring retreat for SGA members only. Another $3,000 went to fund SGA banquets at the end of each semester. Five-hundred dollars of the budget also went to fund the beach bus in the fall. Oh, you didn’t know that Pepperdine had a beach bus? Yeah, me neither.
Finally, there is the $1,100 spent to fund a jacket for each member of SGA. So in total, around $13,000, or almost 10 percent of the total budget, was spent on things that really only benefit the members of SGA.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of group bonding, and I understand that people tend to work better if they know each other. However, I think most of us can agree that bonding can occur for less than $13,000. Senior Carl Kasalek, SGA president, did not respond to requests for comment on spending this much money on bonding.
The other area of SGA spending that raises concern is the $12,000 designated this spring for SGA Programming. This semester, the money has been allocated to three areas: tsunami relief, Spring Fling and the Homecoming halftime events.
While I commend SGA for taking an active role in tsunami relief and continuing the tradition of Spring Fling, I have to question the estimated $5,000 spent on Homecoming.
This event included free plastic bead necklaces accompanied by T-shirts with the “Got Beads?” logo and floats that wheeled in our homecoming court. Who knew all this could cost $5,000? It must have been the extra-cool crown they gave Homecoming King Jack Smothers that cost the big bucks.
All joking aside, one must seriously ask if SGA is really putting this money to appropriate use.
While the majority of the SGA budget is allocated to areas where the funds are used for appropriate purposes, there are many areas that could use some serious improvement.
Since SGA is working toward becoming a more policy-oriented body, it would only make sense to take some of this money that is spent on superfluous expenditures and use it to help fund some of the resolutions that SGA passes. Or perhaps put the money toward initiating programs or funding projects that really make a lasting impression on this campus and truly enhance the student experience.
As it stands right now, all most of us have to show for our $90 student fee is a T-shirt.
2-24-2005