The Observer, October 6, 2006
Volume XXXIX, Issue 6
USG denies Catalyst request for funding
Letter to the Editor
To the Editor:
The Undergraduate Student Government is a necessary and very important body on Case's campus which presides over serious decisions affecting numerous student organizations. USG is known for putting on great events and for providing a bounty of wealth and support for students and organizations on campus, and it operates on a strict code of conduct both in its presentations to the campus and in its dealings with student organizations, which maintains USG's respectability at Case.
However, it has become apparent that USG does not always practice fair funding procedures. In the spring of 2006, USG funded the Case Right to Life group for a trip to the "March for Life," as is stated on their publicly accessible funding request on the USG website (http://usg.case.edu/funding). The group was awarded $173.19 of the $240 they requested. They stated in their funding proposal:
"This annual event, marking the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision, draws tens of thousands of people from across the country. We will ride a bus to D.C. with students from John Carroll, along with local high schools. The cost is $40/person, and we ask for a half subsidy."
This event was clearly a very politicized march, and USG chose to subsidize the bus costs for Right to Life despite this circumstance. The following fall, however, Catalyst: Students for Social Justice proposed that USG provide bus subsidy for an event they planned to attend in Georgia:
"We are asking for half subsidized bus fare for 15 people to go to the SOA protest and vigil following our informative event ['Informative event concerning the School of the Americas (SOA), a U.S. military training school for Latin American military and paramilitaries which specialized in intimidation, torture, and mass terror tactics.'] in October. The fare is $30/person; half subsidized would be $15/person for 15 people."
Catalyst requested $270 and was awarded nothing. In the beginning of this semester, the group tried again to gain funding by requesting a reallocation for another event for "School of the Americas Protest: subsidized transportation," and was denied funds.
In the case of political groups, funding can be a tricky proposition considering that USG is not politically affiliated, and should they choose to abstain from funding student groups to attend political demonstrations that decision would be entirely understandable and respectable. However, USG has chosen to fund these initiatives for certain types of groups and not others.
What has motivated USG to be discriminatory in its funding practices? Is it the type of political affiliations of various student groups that dictates USG's funding decisions? Or is USG just sloppy in its adherence to rules about politically sensitive funding? Both Catalyst: Students for Social Justice and Case Right to Life advocate moderately radical political positions, and funding one while not funding the other for very similar requests and events is questionable and places the Case Undergraduate Student Government's integrity at risk.
Jacqueline Greene
Jessica Arteaga
Undergraduate Students
