STUDENT Council doesn’t get paid, but that’s not to say they work for free. An examination of the past few Student Council budgets shows the true cost of the perks Student Council members grant themselves. In free food for Council members alone, students are footing a bill of over $4,500 this year. It’s high time the student body found out and spoke out about this wasteful, unethical behavior.
In the 2008-2009 Student Council budget, five of the 10 standing committees — Student Life, Legislative Affairs, Environmental Sustainability, Community Affairs, and Academic Affairs — receive allocations for “food” or “snacks” at committee meetings. The amount budgeted per committee ranges from $112 all the way to $450. This means that a few dozen committee members will personally eat through $1,252 of student money this year.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t end there. The Appropriations Committee, a semi-autonomous group consisting of elected Student Council representatives plus additional student volunteers, plans to spend an astonishing $1,700 on food during its meetings this year. To put that number into perspective, that is the equivalent of 340 medium pizzas.
Many of you may have noted that $1,700 plus $1,252 does not sum to $4,500. Yes, you are right. There’s more. Student Council has budgeted $500 for “Lawn Gatherings,” $600 for a “Rotunda Reception,” and the University Unity Project will receive its own $500 food budget. The final tally is $4,552.
In fact, this figure is a conservative one. There are additional amounts sprinkled throughout the budget for “food,” but hopefully the additional $14,000 budgeted for food will actually go to the students that Council was elected to represent. In this case, yes, it is appropriate for Student Council to pay for food. Somewhere, though, the line must be drawn, so it is clear that we students don’t intend for our money to pay for each Council member’s dinner. While food is not paid for from the Student Activity Fund, meaning student tuition dollars are never directly spent on it, that technically is meaningless. Whatever the funding source, all money spent by Student Council is intended for student use and any money Student Council spends on itself could have been spent elsewhere.
John Nelson, Student Council Vice President for Administration, defended Council’s actions, saying, “This year, we have worked to reduce the cost of our internal operations.” In a way, Nelson is right. Outrageous internal expenditures have been the norm for several years, and these type of expenditures are somewhat reduced this year. Comparing last year’s and this year’s budgets, though, shows only two real changes, though they are commendable nonetheless. Last year, Student Council held several “cabinet dinners” open to committee chairs and executive members only, costing over $600, according to the budget. In addition, this year’s retreat was cut from two nights to one, yet the price tag is still a lofty $4,500, or over $100 per attendee. While Council took two admirable steps to reduce wastefulness, why did they stop there?
Nelson also notes that, “some internal spending is necessary for a productive year.” While this is true, expenses can clearly be cut. There are plenty of CIOs on Grounds that do great work with much smaller budgets. A retreat need not be overnight and off-Grounds. If Student Council wants to hold a “Lawn gathering” why not ask all attendees to chip in, instead of charging the student body? Student Council consists of our fellow students, whom we ask to spend our money on our behalf. To instead spend that money frivolously on themselves is a violation of that trust.
In truth, Student Council perks extend past free food and the annual retreat. Student Council members get free T-shirts and other items, with the rest of us students footing the bill. Unfortunately, that is where Student Council’s transparency ends. There is no line item on the annual budget that says “free T-shirts.” Instead, they are lumped into the $5,000 “promotional” expenses category. In the past, Council has been even shadier. Last year, they approved free sweatshirts, in addition to the t-shirts, on the Chief Financial Officer’s prerogative without any formal vote, even though the expense was not included in the budget.
Although we may not know the full cost of Student Council perks, we do know that it is too high. Students must stand up to the culture of Student Council where members believe they are entitled to something just because they were elected or because they signed up. This means saying “no” to free dinners and free T-shirts and limiting other costs to a much lower level. The Student Council budget has ballooned to $135,000 this year from $68,000 in 2005, the year current fourth-years arrived at the University. That is absurd. Student Council must cut expenses, starting at home. If they have money left over and don’t know what to do with it, then give it back to us the students. I’m sure we all can find good uses for it.
Isaac Wood’s column appears Mondays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at i.wood@cavalierdaily.com.
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