The AUSA Senate found itself in a heated debate last Tuesday over an increase in the student activity fee with the majority of senators lobbying for a $20 hike each academic quarter. The increase would bring the student activity fee to $330 a year.
The discussion came after the Senate held a special meeting Oct. 2 to talk about the suggested increases. Initially agreeing upon a $10 increase – $6.50 towards the arts and sciences passport and $3.50 towards a Driscoll Center remodeling fund, senators threw out another resolution in the weekly Oct. 3 meeting to raise the amount to $20. The amount would allocate $7 to the arts and sciences passport, $5 towards the Driscoll Center remodeling and an additional $8 as a “buffer” for future student activity fee money.
Increases like this must be approved by the DU Board of Trustees before being put into effect.
“We should go to trustees less frequently with larger 0amounts of money than frequently with smaller amounts,” said Michael Nicoletti, off-campus senator.
With more money, the Senate could have a cushion for future needed funding, senators argued. Also, it could prevent an increase in the student activity fee for 2-3 years, they claimed.
But other senators argued that having an approximate $120,000 in reserve without a specific plan is too much money to have on hand.
“I’m extremely disappointed,” said Kate Wigand, chair of records, noting that the Senate should keep students’ best interest in mind. “Some students are already struggling to pay to go to school especially with increasing tuition,” she said.
“We can forecast for the future, but something else could come up,” said Scott Schwartz, chair of Finance . Besides that, he said, the AUSA Senate changes each year and future senators may have other plans, and raise the fee regardless of the current Senate’s actions.
“I don’t like going year by year,” said Kelsey Yamasaki, junior senator. “We need to plan ahead. That way we won’t have to go scrounging for money.”
A bill that would have given President Aaron Schwarzberg authority to negotiate the amount if the Board of Trustees rejected the initial $20 increase failed.
“We’re running around in circles,” said Schwarzberg. “We need to get to a common ground.”
Discussion lasted for over an hour. The Senate voted to end discussion, and Schwarzberg planned to speak to the Board of Trustees this week.
In other news, Senate voted to pass bill 3A, which would increase the budget for rape and sexual harassment education from $3,000 to $9,000. According to their provided statistics, one in four DU students have been victims of rape or attempted rape.
In the Senate drafted bill to the Board of Trustees, it said that $3,000 was “grossly inadequate” and doesn’t reflect the severity of the issue.
Senators chose to remove the word “grossly” from the draft because they felt the word was too harsh and a sign of belittling university administration’s efforts on the issue.
“If we need to send a strong, harsh message, then we’ll send a strong, harsh message, but it’s not necessary,” said Schwarzberg.
