ASG Report: 06.02.2009

Last Tuesday’s ASG meeting addressed different funding requests. Bellevue College’s Students Offering Support in Sobriety Club and Political Science department requested small sums of funding, while a request by the Art of Living, Yoga and Service Club for a larger sum was approved after weeks of negotiating.

The club’s funding request, dedicated towards a planned trip to have students attend the Sierra Empowerment Project, had gone through a series of alterations and changes. The club’s initial request, totaling over $14,000, was much too big of a setback to the ASG’s available budget. After having their funding request tabled, the club returned with a request for roughly $11,000. Though not as expensive, the request proved, once again, to be too much of a setback.

After several weeks of further deliberation and reorganization within the club’s plans, a much more reasonable and economic proposal was created.

This new request would involve students and participants of the trip to pay their own airfare, which was calculated to be $225 for each individual expected to make the trip to Nevada.

Along with several other changes, the club was able to reduce its request to a mere $2,750, which is $11,250 less than their original proposal. After approving to take the club’s request from being tabled or inactive, the ASG finally voted on whether or not to accept the request. The Art of Living’s funding request was passed unanimously.

In what seemed to be congenial uniformity, each of the ASG’s voting members raised his or her hand confidently in support of the Art of Living’s plans, and also expressing that they were curious to see how bringing individuals from this program back to the College might affect both campus and community life for the better.

Another item on the ASG’s agenda included a funding request from Students Offering Support in Sobriety. The club asked for $60.00 in order to put on a graduation party for some of the students/members that will be leaving the school at the end of this quarter. The party is designed to be like a potluck and will have food be purchased and brought by individuals from the club, or others that would like to participate, rather than by having to get funding for catering or food services.

The majority of the club’s funding request would be put towards advertising the event.

When a motion to amend the amount of the request was made, Burke Colquhoun, Emerging Technology and Entrepreneurial Representative, called to question saying, “We don’t need to nickel and dime them. This is a relatively small funding request.”

Colquhoun added that the ASG should not get in the way of them reaching out to others, especially when their request is so small. The Students Offering Support of Sobriety’s request was passed unanimously.

The College’s Political Science club was also on the agenda, requesting $60.00 to puts towards advertising an upcoming bake sale that the club will be having. The club has also planned to receive a portion of the profits from a Mexican Restaurant in Kirkland.

Although the President of the Political Science club was not available to present the request, a substitute answered questions in his place. In response to the club’s request, the board had speculations over whether the revenues or “donations” from the Mexican restaurant are legitimate; also feeling that the club had not planned their events well and that money had possibly been mismanaged. A motion on the request failed (1-4-0).