IUSA to vote on proposed budget

IU Student Association Congress members will cast their votes Tuesday to accept or reject the proposed 2005-06 IUSA budget, which relies on nearly $80,000 of student money. \nIUSA President Alex Shortle said he believes this year's budget is more accurate than last year's, which claimed to use $176,657 -- nearly $70,000 more than this year. \n"We have no idea (why it was higher.) They certainly didn't spend that much money because we don't have that much money," he said. "I'm not really sure how they allocated that much or how it was passed, but it was. But we need to move forward and be more accountable for our expenses." \nUsing $79,100 in student-paid funds and $19,000 in funds rolled over from last year, the proposed budget allocates $48,400 to run the IUSA office, $21,265 for advertising in the Indiana Daily Student and $19,000 to pay IUSA executives. \nIf the budget passes, the IUSA president, vice president, treasurer and secretary will be provided with $4,500 stipends, and $2,100 will be allocated to purchase A, C, D and E parking permits for certain members of IUSA. \nThe proposed budget also lays out the fiscal details for the IU readership program, which uses $70,000 of student funds to provide on-campus copies of The New York Times and USA Today to students. \nDean of Students Richard McKaig said executive stipends have been a part of the budget for many years, with the initial goal of giving everyone a chance to participate in student government. \n"It was originally predicated on the assumption that they would stay in town over the summer," he said. "The conversation was, do you want IUSA to be an organization that only rich students can participate in?"\nShortle said he stayed in Bloomington during the summer and did not work additional jobs, but other executives were "in and out" of Bloomington and did hold summer jobs. \nShortle also said having a paid A parking permit creates more efficiency within student government. \n"It helps me a great deal not having to ride my bike around campus," he said. \nSenior Kelly Gartland said she did not agree with using student money to pay for executive parking permits. \n "In my opinion, if professors are required to pay for their parking permits, then the student body shouldn't be footing the bill for members of student organizations to have one," she said. \nMcKaig said IU faculty and staff traditionally pay for their own parking permits. \nThe budget also included a $6,000 fee to pay for a leadership retreat for IUSA congressional and executive members. Though the budget has not yet been passed, the retreat took place last weekend. \nIUSA congress, which is composed of 62 elected senators, must have a two-thirds majority for a resolution to pass. The budget was intended to be voted on Sept. 13, but not enough senators showed up to initiate a vote. \nCollege of Arts and Sciences Senator Adam Kintz said he would like more information regarding the budget. \n"Before I can vote on it, I'd like to know what, specifically, each category will entail," he said. "As a rookie senator I was pretty disappointed at the showing of the first meeting last week." \nStudents interested in expressing their views can attend the congressional meeting held in room 211 of the Kelley School of Business tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. or e-mail their congressional representative, whose names and e-mails are listed at http://www.indiana.edu/~iusa/congress/congressmembers.htm.\nIUSA Congress Vice President Courtney Thom said though Congress is meant to be the voice of the students, very few students take advantage of the opportunity. \n"In the past we've had maybe five regular students, at the most, attend Congress," she said. "We don't really get that many outside opinions." \nIUSA Speaker of the House Lauren Maul said she thinks the budget looks fair. \n"I've looked over the budget and I think it looks really good," she said. "There aren't really any more corners they can cut out of the budget."\nInvolving students in the process of determining the budget can be difficult, she said. \n"I'm all about the student body being involved ... but it's rather difficult to explain to the entire student body the whys and wheres for the budget," she said. "It's much easier for congressionals to understand and decide because they're a lot more informed about what the budget means"