"Bury my Heart at SFC"

I’m back. I took the longest break from blogging in quite a while. It’s been about three weeks since the last update, and much as happened since. I’ve been meaning to write something earlier, and I got about half-way through a post before getting sidetracked. Since my feelings back then aren’t the same as now, I decided not to even bother finishing that one. I have a process when I write, and everything has to turn out just right. Because of that, I sometimes don’t update at all because I can’t find the proper time to complete the task. Nevertheless, on this cold and billowy last night of November, I shall update at last.

Part of my previous hesitation in updating had to do with the just completed Senate Finance Committee process. I went through a whirlwind of emotions during the last few weeks, and thought it wasn’t proper to speak on things until it was sorted out. I don’t know just how many of my readers (if there are any) are up to date on the very hard to find budget numbers for segregated fee funded enterprises. Basically, a portion of the money students pay for tuition is designated as “segregated fee money” and is appropriated by the Student Association to pay for costs deemed under “Student Life and Interest.” Thus far, there are several centers and programs that are funded with seg fees, including the entire UWM Athletics Program, the Student Association (including my salary) the UWM Children’s Center, the LGBT and Women’s Resource Centers, the B.O.S.S program, the University Legal Clinic, the Student Activities Office, the U-Park program, and a few others. In total, students paid/will pay $216 each semester during the 2010-2011 school year towards these areas. The Senate appoints members to a committee which decides the total funding of these areas, which is then passed by the Senate, and signed into law by the President. The proposed seg fee changes then take place next year.

After about eleven hours of committee meetings, and much debate from the entire committee, SFC reached an accord, and will present its decision to the Senate for approval on Sunday. The major things that I successfully fought for were a cut to Athletic’s “black hole” budget (currently $79.75 per student per semester) and full funding for the Office of Student Life Plan, which rearranged the Student Activities Office, combined the centers under one funding block, and created the “Inclusive Excellence Center” which will replace LINKS, and focus on minority representation and retention around campus.

SFC voted to allocate $77.25 for Athletics, $34.90 for OSL, and $15 for SAC. The Children’s Center and Legal Clinic saw no change. $6.70 was allocated to the “Campus Activities Board” which will work to bring in big speakers, and events on campus.

The biggest thing I fought for, and lost, was the amount allocated to the U-Park Program. For those of you who don’t know, Milwaukee County is removing UWM’s park and ride program at the lake. Those students who used to park there will be forced to either take the bus, compete for 600-700 spaces at the Capitol and Humboldt Park and Ride, or park in UWM’s new on-campus lot at the Columbia St. Mary’s area. Although students will still pay $12 per semester to UWM’s U-Park program, those parking at the CSM lot will be forced to pay $4 a day.

I tried, I fought and I lost. For weeks the Student Association had been urging U-Park to consider making the CSM lot free to use for students, and augmenting the loss in revenue and the cost of upkeep by increasing the seg fee by a few dollars. U-Park denied our pleas. They claimed “free” student parking on campus would inundate nearby neighborhoods with student parkers unable to find a spot in the lot, and that the loss in revenue from a decrease in parking tickets would cause other services offered by U-Park to decline. One member of the P.E.C committee charged with passing U-Park’s budget claimed he “could just not support free student parking.” So as per usual when the University makes a costly mistake buying property they cannot afford, the students foot the bill. I suspect that after failing to generate their expected income, U-Park will come to SFC next year asking for an increase in seg fees to support the lot. In the mean time, student parkers will have to begin paying $4 a day to park on campus, beginning this fall. Budget concerns or not, this move goes against the student interest, and U-Park should admit its failure. Instead they act as if students should thank them for this lot. I can only hope next year’s committee can find a way to sort out the problem, and remind U-Park who pays its wages.

This is starting to drag on a bit, so I’ll sign off for now. I’ll update soon with an upcoming SLIC event, as well as the goings on of the next Senate meeting.