Can Florida A&M University’s activities and service organizations function without sufficient funds?
Due to the recent budget cutbacks from the FAMU Student Government Association, functioning is the hard task.
A number of organizations have not yet received funding for the spring 2006 semester. As a result, Journey magazine, which is FAMU’s student-run magazine, is not able to publish its last two scheduled issues for this school year. Most organizations were set to have funds disbursed on Monday, an entire three months after the start of the .
In the SGA “Spring 2006 Release Summary” only 76.18 percent of the funding has been disbursed. That leaves another 23.82 percent to be released amongst heavy hitting organizations such as this newspaper.
When you join a student activity or organization it usually comes with a financial obligation. During the end of the semester, you can count on an awards banquet, a concert in Lee Hall or even an appreciation day for supporters.
College students already have to bear the financial costs of attending college and paying rent, all while being involved in campus activities. Paying the costs of student organizations can be a major sacrifice to some. However, to others it is not a problem. When you turn in your money you assume everything is taken care of.
With allocated funds by SGA, planning and budgeting and strategies are devised to determine how to run the organization. Now, because of the cutbacks, some organizations are holding off on their activities.
I know I would be upset if I could not end my semester with a grand finale. It would be my goal to show the finished product. Imagine if you were a part of these organizations that have to hold off. All the time you worked on that article or the dance scene you worked on day and night – imagine all of it coming to a screeching halt.
Ultimately all the blame of the current budget situation cannot be put solely on the members of SGA and the budgeting committee. SGA is the main source of funding for a lot of organizations, some organizations have their own individual sources of funding, which makes it possible for a lot of events to happen.
I encourage all of our talented Rattlers to not let their valuable time, effort and FAMU dedication be discouraged by this setback.
Bernard Hendrix III is a sophomore public relations student from Marietta, Ga. He can be reached at bernard1.hendrix@famu.edu.