Unity proposes new IUSA budget

The IU Student Association's Unity ticket is at work on a new IUSA budget to reduce the cost of overhead, which they see as taking money away from students.\nAccording to Unity's research, 76 percent of IUSA's main budget for 2002-2003 goes to overhead costs, which leaves only 24 percent of student fees going directly to students.\n"This is wrong," said Unity's presidential candidate Aaron Radez. "That's not the way you run a non-profit student organization."\nThis problem can be alleviated with the reduction of some unnecessary spending, which includes a $30,000 Indiana Daily Student contract and congressional retreats, Radez said.\n"If you look at a copy of the current IUSA budget, there's a ton of fluffy stuff," he said. "We want to find ways to save and cut back the budget to a ratio of 49 percent overhead and 51 percent to students, at least."\nOrganizations such as the American Red Cross offer an example for what Unity wants to achieve, he said.\n"Yes, they have a higher budget and high pay directors around the country," Radez said. "But they work on about 10 percent overhead, and proportionally it's what we're looking to do," he said.\nJudd Arnold, current IUSA vice president, questioned Radez's definition of overhead and said Unity's overhead numbers might be inflated. He doesn't endorse or oppose any ticket, but had some opinions to offer from someone who's been through the IUSA experience.\n"Say our legislative relations department sends a letter to state legislators," Arnold said. "He counts that as overhead, and I say that's just what we do -- advocate student opinion to state and local government. We gave packets of information to the board of trustees at meetings. To him that's overhead, but I would argue that's what we do. It's a difference of opinion."\nThe congressional retreats offer training, and Kirkwood has reduced their funding under its administration, Arnold said.\n"There's a lot of work going on there, and it's been done for I can't tell you how long," he said. "Is it absolutely necessary? No, but does every other organization in the nation do it? Yes. You have to train people, and you have to prepare for the year."\nUnity would like to further reduce the retreat funding and find other methods of community-building, said vice presidential candidate Lorenza Jara.\n"We know what some of the overhead costs must be, and it is important to hold community in a student organization. But as for using large percentages toward the retreat, it isn't really necessary," Jara said. "You can build community through communication and bringing people together. Then you can socialize and go through the goal process."\nJara said she wants to cut her stipend and give it back to students in the form of a scholarship.\n"Cutting corners wherever we can will help the student organization," she said. "If you cut $500 from mine and each exec's, you have $2,000 going to students."\nUnity also opposes spending $27,000 on an IUSA office secretary when a student could realize much more benefit from the money, Jara said. Unity wants to create a work-study program for IUSA's secretary to give extra money back to the students.\nStill, all of these plans will require time, Radez said.\n"All of this will be a transitional process," he said. "We can't just radically go and fire the secretary. He's a nice guy"