After much deliberation, Duke Student Government finalized the Student Organization Finance Committee’s annual budget for the 2013-2014 academic year.
Final approval for the SOFC annual budget, which the Senate chose to table at last week’s meeting, was finalized at $446,736 Wednesday. The SOFC annual budget funds capital expenditures that any recognized or chartered group needs to function, said SOFC Chair Kat Krieger, a junior. The budget also funds major expenditures for events outside the realm of the programming fund for chartered groups.
The Duke Undergraduate Publication Board received $76,216.40. The Duke Partnership for Service received $56,056.06. DSG received $52,337.89. Club Sports received $90,000—the largest sum from the budget.
The Senate debated the funding for The Chanticleer—Duke’s student yearbook—for about 90 minutes.
In order to lower funding costs, sophomore Nikolai Doytchinov, vice president for academic affairs, originally proposed requiring all students to opt in for a copy of The Chanticleer. Of those who opted in, seniors would receive free copies, and others would pay a $15 fee.
Junior Patrick Oathout, executive vice president, was not in favor of the proposal because $15 would not make enough of a difference to lower funding costs.
President Alex Swain, a senior, noted that it was a “privileged point of view” to think college students have disposable income.
“I am personally offended that anybody could call me privileged,” Oathout said.
He noted that the Senate has delayed creating a long-term plan for The Chanticleer budget every year, adding that they should focus on finding a sustainable solution rather than a short-term fix.
Sophomore Derek Rhodes, vice president for Durham and regional affairs, expressed his frustration with the Senate delaying a final decision about The Chanticleer’s budget, and chose to leave the meeting altogether.
“We discuss this every year, and that is embarrassing and makes DSG look bad,” Oathout said. “The only way that yearbooks benefit students are the yearbooks that linger around offices on campus, but most yearbooks leave campus and don’t help students at all.”
The Senate approved $74,150 for The Chanticleer, but stipulated that the money be “frozen” until Chanticleer leaders create an opt-in policy for students to declare that they want a yearbook. Seniors who opt-in would receive free copies, and others would pay the full price. In the past, The Chanticleer has been printed and mailed to every member of the senior class following graduation, Krieger said.
The new policy will also allow underclassmen to pre-order copies. Last year, there were 900 printed and delivered to underclassmen.
Junior Dan Pellegrino was the only senator to vote against passing the final budget.
The budget from the previous year was $479,535.97.
“I am happy to see that the Senate really took the time to layout the best plan for the student body,” said sophomore Tre’ Scott, vice president for services.
In Other Business:
Young Trustee-elect Chris Brown, a senior, has created an email account to better connect with undergraduate students.
Brown collaborated with existing YT members to create YoungTrustee@Duke.edu, an email address that will send messages to an account that is checked by all of the undergraduate Young Trustees. Brown announced that the account is now accepting messages.
“Something that I campaigned on was being a Young Trustee that stays in touch with the student body more so than Young Trustees in the past have,” Brown said.
He added that the experience of being an undergraduate cannot be conveyed through outside sources, such as The Chronicle. The only way to fully represent the needs of the student body is to be in direct contact with undergraduates.
The graduate Young Trustees are working on creating a separate email account to receive feedback from graduate students.
Freshman Abhi Sanka, sophomore James Kennedy, freshman Hannah McCracken and sophomore Cameron Tripp were elected as board of election’s selection committee. They were elected using a “heads up, seven up” voting method, in which the Senate put their heads on the table and raised their thumbs to vote.
President-elect Stefani Jones, a junior, proposed allocating $1,500 to buy pizza for students for the Last Day of Classes concert. The Senate approved.
Correction: This article has been corrected to reflect that seniors who opt to receive a Chanticleer would not pay a fee.
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