Spring Break
EDITORIAL: No such thing as a free event
Editorial | 11/20/07
Posted online at 10:02 PM EST on 11/19/07
/ Last updated at 2:33 AM EST on 11/19/07
At first glance, the new decision that all Finance Board-funded events will be free for undergraduate students seems laudable. However, it seems that this decision did not come from any demand from the student body over the injustice of event fees, but instead represents an attempt by the F-Board to exert control over events.
Student Union Treasurer Choon Woo Ha's '08 notion that students should not have to pay for events for which their Student Activities Fee has already paid is flawed. The SAF is used to build a framework and provide support so that students can build vibrant social and cultural clubs and events. The SAF and the F-Board can be viewed as a backbone to allow for a properly functioning campus life, not the sole source of revenue or funding. Clubs should be free to supplement their SAF donations with funding raised through admission fees.
We worry that this reform will make clubs completely beholden to the F-Board for all funding. Currently, clubs can charge a fee to recoup out-of-pocket expenses. This leads to some autonomy, as groups-theater groups in particular-can build up a reserve of funds. This autonomy is vital in ensuring that event funding does not become overly contingent on the will of the F-Board.
Mr. Ha has said he won't increase funding levels, even as clubs lose the ability to turn and then reinvest a profit. Two equally frightening potential outcomes may emerge from this. Either large-scale events such as MELA or Pachanga will have to be scaled down, or, if the F-Board decides to fully fund such large-scale popular events, fewer events will be funded.
Under the latter scenario, less-established clubs forced to compete for resources left over from the big events would have a harder time organizing their own projects.
In addition, the sheer increase in time and energy clubs would have to put into fundraising would certainly affect their planning of successful events. Being able to charge for admission reduces the burden of fundraising as it allows for clubs to generate income by focusing on what they are meant to do: put together events that enrich the community.
Student Union Treasurer Choon Woo Ha's '08 notion that students should not have to pay for events for which their Student Activities Fee has already paid is flawed. The SAF is used to build a framework and provide support so that students can build vibrant social and cultural clubs and events. The SAF and the F-Board can be viewed as a backbone to allow for a properly functioning campus life, not the sole source of revenue or funding. Clubs should be free to supplement their SAF donations with funding raised through admission fees.
We worry that this reform will make clubs completely beholden to the F-Board for all funding. Currently, clubs can charge a fee to recoup out-of-pocket expenses. This leads to some autonomy, as groups-theater groups in particular-can build up a reserve of funds. This autonomy is vital in ensuring that event funding does not become overly contingent on the will of the F-Board.
Mr. Ha has said he won't increase funding levels, even as clubs lose the ability to turn and then reinvest a profit. Two equally frightening potential outcomes may emerge from this. Either large-scale events such as MELA or Pachanga will have to be scaled down, or, if the F-Board decides to fully fund such large-scale popular events, fewer events will be funded.
Under the latter scenario, less-established clubs forced to compete for resources left over from the big events would have a harder time organizing their own projects.
In addition, the sheer increase in time and energy clubs would have to put into fundraising would certainly affect their planning of successful events. Being able to charge for admission reduces the burden of fundraising as it allows for clubs to generate income by focusing on what they are meant to do: put together events that enrich the community.
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