News

The Student Union (SU) has officially run out of money for the rest of the spring 2008 term. As a result, various teams, clubs and publications will not receive more funding until next term.

Running out of money is an unusual problem for the SU. Senior and SU President Jamila Ma said that in her two years of working in the SU, “it hasn’t occurred before.”

According to Ma, overspending is the cause of the SU’s condition.

The SU raises money from a breadth of sources. It receives a percentage of the money from sales in the student store, a percentage of the money made from the one-dollar fee for lost ID cards and money from the sales of SU Stuyvesant Advantage Cards. The SU also raises money from dances and SING!.

All money raised during the school year always goes towards the SU next year, and vice versa. “All the profits made last year are what we’re allowed to spend this year,” senior and SU Chief Financial Officer Elizabeth So said.

The SU is not able to fund publications and clubs until next term in fall 2008 because although there is money, it is not to be used until next year.

The SU started off the school year with around 50,000 dollars, So said. The SU’s money is allocated to many different places. The largest chunk of the SU’s money is loaned and granted to various teams, clubs and publications. For example, the Stuyvesant Speech and Debate team received 5,500 dollars this year, the Stuyvesant Theater Community received 9,000 dollars and 7,000 dollars were given to various sports teams. The SU also uses money to pay for chaperones in school dances. In addition, approximately 2,500 dollars were recently spent to pay for the new couches in the student lounge.

“We had many needs, and we accommodated these needs,” Ma said. “I had warned the SU that we had been spending a lot.”

Ma also said that the SU had been receiving “pressure from the administration to spend.”

According to So, the SU started to stop funding clubs and pubs a month ago. Their last budget meeting was in early February. “We wish we could give money to clubs and pubs, but we can’t,” Ma said.

The best solution for clubs and pubs in need of money is just to wait it out, according to Ma. “Clubs are winding down […and] they can make up for what they need,” Ma said. “It’s not a huge deal.”