SGA Memo to Crier

Dear "Crier Editorial Staff:"

"It seemed odd that the College cannot fund its own clubs, so the Crier investigated the funding process."

As the Treasurer of the Class of 2014, and therefore a member of the Finance Committee of SGA and a participant in the 2011 Appropriations process, what seems odd to me is this claim made by "Crier Editorial Staff." So I did a little research of my own – into my notes and numbers from the thirteen-hour long Appropriations Day for which I, the rest of the Finance Committee, and several administrators gave up an entire Saturday last March.

First, SGA does not, by any stretch of the imagination, receive $430,000 to distribute to the clubs on campus as the Crier article claimed. This year the total appropriated sum was approximately thirty percent of that. Campus Activities Board (CAB) receives the largest portion of that, given that it is itself a branch of SGA, because it undoubtedly reaches the most students with its programming, and is at the helm of the most expensive items (speakers, musical acts, spring concerts, school-wide social events, T-shirts, countless prizes, food, etc.). In actuality, the Finance Committee was left with approximately fourteen percent of the supposed "$430,000" amount with which to fund the College's nearly 40 clubs.

Second, I stand by what SGA Treasurer Andrew Marden stated about the unavailability of individual club funds to the general College public. This is not an excuse with which to fool the Crier or any member of the student body; it is College policy. Each club learns exactly what they individually have been appropriated after the budget is affirmed by the Student Senate. It is protocol that this is as far as their knowledge need extend.

Next, and perhaps a side note, I find it somewhat disrespectful on the part of the Crier to call out a highly-esteemed, not to mention extremely busy, administrator at the College such as Dean Finn. To put it frankly, her job description does not include interviewing with Crier staff to defend what is the established and legal policy of a private institution such as Saint Anselm College.

The inability of SGA to release a broad statement of their funding is not the result of a problematic "attitude," as the Crier claimed, but a rule. As previously stated, each club is given their individual yearly amount; if this is problematic, as it seems to be for the Crier, clubs can go to any Finance Committee meeting to seek Emergency Funding. They are weekly on Sundays at 6 p.m. in the SGA Office. The first of these meetings was held on Sunday, September 18, (days before the "Memo to SGA" article was published) and no members of the Crier staff attended to seek such funds.

Saint Anselm does indeed want to foster an active student body. The Finance Committee of the Student Government Association tries its hardest to support our campus clubs with adequate funding. If proof is needed, ask your class treasurer or a member of the Committee who spent approximately thirteen hours in a room on a bright Saturday listening to club after club, debating requests, arguing, and trying their absolute hardest to be fair in disbursements of the limited amount of funding we had to work with. Here's a "Memo" to the Crier: Show SGA Some Respect.