SGB spends two hours on allocations

‘ ‘ ‘ Student Government Board made decisions on 20 allocations requests from 17 student groups… ‘ ‘ ‘ Student Government Board made decisions on 20 allocations requests from 17 student groups seeking money for tournaments, conferences and other events during its two-hour-long meeting Tuesday night. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ SGB gave the most money, $6,320.89, to the Caribbean and Latin American Student Association. The organization originally requested $12,681.84 to fund its annual carnival, which will be held in Posvar Hall this April. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Kearn Mitchell, a member of the association, said the event, which attracted about 250 people last year, needed money to cover University maintenance, transportation and costumes for participants. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Mitchell also said the student group had to request funding from Dean of Students Kathy Humphrey to pay for the carnival’s costumes, which they’ll use in fashion shows later in the year. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We shouldn’t have to go to [Humphrey] to get funding for these costumes,’ said Mitchell. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ The $6,320.89 approved by the board did not cover the costumes, but did pay for the maintenance request needed to pay for clean up of Posvar Hall after the event. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ SGB also approved $6,076 for Black Dance Workshop, which needed money to cover the venue and costumes for the group’s spring showcase this April. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Joy Coleman, a Black Dance Workshop member, said the costumes were vital to the organization’s event, which features 16 different dances. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Board member Max Greenwald said he felt the group’s request of $3,000 for costumes was excessive and that it was an inadequate use of the student activities fund. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ But other board members, including Nila Devanath and Charlie Schull, disagreed. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘These costumes are definitely integral to the group’s mission and purpose,’ said Devanath. ‘I don’t understand why we’re really having an issue about approving this money right now.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Coleman said the costumes were the cheapest that the group could find and urged the board to reconsider its initial inclination to only fund $2,876, a number that excluded all costume funding. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We’re not asking for the full amount that it takes to put on this event,’ said Coleman. ‘If we went to a professional dance store, these costumes would cost about $50 per person. We fundraise.’