Senate denies La Raza funding

The Associated Students Senate Wednesday approved A.S.I.'s budget for the 2000-2001 academic year, denying the La Raza Student Association funds while the Beach Pride referendum will pump $1.2 million into athletics.

The budget, based on a projection of an average of 30,000 students enrolled, was approved on a 14-3-1 vote.

La Raza, however, was not included in that budget.The controversy erupted when the student group requested $5,000, but failed to file its grant application on time. The student association's treasurer, Johanna Bucaro, appealed to the Senate to allocate funds for the group's fall programs.

"We have to hold organizations somewhat accountable," said Sen.-at-Large Michael Braga. "They'll have to accept responsibility for their actions. I feel badly but there's a process."

Bucaro did draw sympathy from Sen. Jose Ayala, College of Liberal Arts, who introduced a motion to transfer $2,500 from the Entertainment Commission to La Raza for its Latino High School Outreach, Latino Heritage Month and Dia de Los Muertos programs.

"We weren't advised of what was going on," Bucaro said. ‘We never got a letter or any information from anyone stating the exact deadline for the grant applications nor was I even aware off an extension.

"I do understand each senator's position and I don't want to penalize any other organizations by taking funding from them."

Ayala's motion failed 14-4-1.

Making an exception "kind of worries me because we'll tell those organizations that got their applications in on time that we're going to make an exception and were going to penalize them for it," said Sen. Justin Ramirez, College of Liberal Arts.

There is still hope for La Raza, however, as Bucaro talked with Williams about reapplying in the summer if Treasurer-elect Sal Ayon calls a meeting of the Board of Control.

"Hopefully when he comes into office we'll be able to speak with him and work something out," Bucaro said.

Although La Raza lost, the biggest winner are the campus athletic programs thanks to the Beach Pride Referendum, a $21 per semester fee increase approved by students in March elections.

The referendum will increase funding for scholarships, team operations, facility improvements, club sports and spirit. But, the fee increase is currently the focus of an A.S. Judiciary complaint in which a Cal State Long Beach student seeks to have the referendum nullified on procedural violations.

While Beach Pride elevates A.S.I.'s expenses next year to more than $3.6 million dollars, with an anticipated $1.9 million in revenue, $66,000 was allocated to nonacademic student organizations.

Black Student Union President David Love's complained that a proposed Pyramid concert was taking funding away from student organizations.

"The impact the concert has on student programs is enormous because that's money you're not free to budget to cultural programs that are historically significant," Love said. "If we're going to have a concert that needs to pay for itself instead of taking $29,000 from other areas of the budget."

The budget for Beach Blast II has been allocated $50,000 and is projected to lose $29,000. Last year's Beach Blast Pyramid concert featuring Smashmouth lost $56,000.

Senators defended appropriating funds for the concert even though it is expected to lose money, hoping that the annual concert will eventually pay for itself.

"It's the second year and the first time is not going to go as well as we'd like," said Sen. Rebecca Roberts, College of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. "I think everyone's wiser and the people who are planning it know what they're doing."

"We believe the concert is something that is possible to do," said A.S.I. Treasurer Rochelle Williams. "Last year promotion started two weeks before. That's not very much time for the concert to be successful."

Williams argued that money could not be shifted to student organizations from the Entertainment Commission that funds campus concerts because they are funded from separate pools of money.

Student organizations are funded by a $6 per semester student activity fee that was approved by students in A.S.I. elections last year, while the Entertainment Commission is funded by the $17 per semester A.S.I. fee.

Williams also disputed Love's contention that funding for non-academic student organizations is declining.

"Student programming funding has increased," she said.