The Observer published a line-item UGBC budget in 1995, citing the right of the students to know where their then-$60 fee was spent. Now that the fee has risen to $244, including a $54 increase this year, knowledge of where student money is spent becomes even more crucial.

We reaffirm the fact that students have a right to know how their elected representatives spend this mandatory student activities fee, and we have requested a line-item budget from the UGBC, ALC, and GLC, just as our predecessors did fifteen years ago.  Our interest in making this request was solely to serve the student body and give them the opportunity to evaluate whether their hard-to-come-by dollars are allocated properly.

We fully appreciate UGBC’s disclosure of their line-item budget. President Al Dea should be commended for his commitment to transparency. He generously took time to bring clarity to the UGBC’s policies and activities.

However, we find the responses of ALC President-elect Erika Hernandez and GLC President Kelsey Gasseling unfortunate. When asked to release the ALC’s budget, Hernandez first declined to disclose it, following the advice of advisers, UGBC officials, and the GLC. The Observer followed up and asked who her advisors were, and Hernandez said that the identity of her advisors was irrelevant since the decision was ultimately that of the ALC’s. Failing to disclose the budget and stonewalling our attempts to understand her rationale stand out especially in light of her parent organization’s willing disclosure.

It is very apparent given the situation and responses that the information was not released due to policy or lack of resources, but rather because the group requesting the information was The Observer.  Regardless of the person or group making the request, any student funded organization can and should provide full disclosure of appropriated funds.  In principle, no student should be denied access to this information.

It is not too late for the ALC and GLC to follow the UGBC’s lead and release a detailed budget. Doing so would be a positive step for transparency in our student government.

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