The Daily Northwestern - Feb. 25, 2013 by The Daily Northwestern

SPRING SPORTS GUIDE 2013 » INSIDE

Lacrosse team pumped up for another national championship run

The Daily Northwestern Monda, February 25, 2013

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How student groups cash in with ASG By JUNNIE KWON and CAT ZAKRZEWSKI the daily northwestern

Last Wednesday, Medill junior Tegan Reyes set foot in her first Associated Student Government Senate meeting to appeal for more funding for the student group she co-chairs, Relay For Life. Reyes hoped to appeal to the Senate for more funding so that their group could have a photo booth for students to use at their annual philanthropy event. Relay For Life asked ASG for $400 for the photo booth, but the Student Groups Committee, which determines funding for B-status groups like Relay for Life, chose to allocate them only $200. But Reyes said the process was much more “disappointing” than she expected when she attended the Senate meeting to appeal for more money. Their request quickly turned into a long back-andforth, where senators and the Relay For Life co-chairs presented pros and cons about awarding the funding. Weinberg senior Lauren Masterson, ASG’s Student Groups vice president, told the Senate her committee had decided before the meeting to not allocate Relay For Life the full money because the photo booth was not essential to the event and because there was no precedent for one to be present there. The Senate eventually sided with Masterson. “It didn’t seem like an attack, but it just seemed like there was a lot going on,” Reyes said. “I did feel that it was a little harsh.” Reyes also said part of the challenge of appealing at ASG was a lack of knowledge

about how the process works. She said she didn’t even realize there would be pro and con speeches and debate when she went to Senate. She also said her group was advised by a representative of ASG to continue appealing for lesser and lesser values of money at the meeting, which eventually backfired and frustrated the senators. “If maybe they made more information available and more people actually did appeal, it would be better,” Reyes said. “I don’t even know where you would get that information.” Both Reyes and Masterson said at B-Status funding Senate meetings, most groups don’t appeal for more funding. “There’s a lot of apathy,” Masterson said. “A lot of groups think it’s not worth it for them to come in.” Masterson said she was glad the group came out to appeal for more money, even though she sticks by her original recommendation. “I’m glad they came in and tried to operate within the system,” Masterson said. “It’s a good thing to have that kind of debate at Senate.” But Reyes does not feel the same. “I was uncomfortable with it, and I probably won’t go to another Senate meeting,” Reyes said. BREAKING DOWN THE ‘B’ This quarter, ASG awarded a total of $12,802 to B-status groups for Spring Quarter, and Masterson said due to an increase in applicants, the process was more difficult than ever before. B-status groups, which receive funding quarterly, have been ASG-recognized for more

ASG STUDENT ACTIVITY FUNDING A Status Group Funding for 2012-2013

A&O Productions

$362,641

Lovers & Madmen

$176,300

Other Groups

$261,504

2.75 percent

College Democrats: $47,786

NCE: $29,984

Hillel Cultural Life: $41,355

SASA: $23,625

FMO: $37,727

SEED: $22,827

McSA: $37,650

NCDC: $20,550

B Status group funding makes up 2.75 percent of total SAF this quarter

Student Groups Committee recommendation: $12,702 Total amount awarded: $12,802

Jen White, Susie Jang, Nova Hou, Sarah Tassoni, Chelsea Sherlock/The Daily Northwestern

than a year and demonstrate a need for minimal Student Activities Fee financing. Every year, a portion of student tuition goes toward the SAF. These groups receive 2.75 percent of the total SAF, which translates to about $36,000 annually. In order to receive B-status funding, Masterson said the Student Groups Committee expects groups to plan their events a quarter in advance. Midway through the quarter, they turn in an application for funding to group executives and

Dog-owners want year-round beach By CIARA MCCARTHY

the daily northwestern

In the winter months, there is a steady group of Evanston residents who remain committed to breaking city code every day. The culprits? Dog owners. The Evanston dog beach, located south of the Clark Street Beach at 1811 Sheridan Road, is officially closed from Dec. 1 to March 31, but attracts dog owners and their pets almost daily despite the restriction. More than 30 people, including dog owners and city staffers, gathered Saturday morning with Ald. Judy Fiske (1st) at the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center, to discuss the dog beach, which is within Fiske’s ward. Keeping the beach open year round was the most unanimously supported suggestion. Fiske said issues such as the dog beach would typically be discussed during 1st Ward meetings. But because the beach attracts residents from all nine wards, she decided to hold a community meeting to hear suggestions and comments about the beach. Fiske noticed the dog beach was a popular topic of conversation on Engage Evanston, the city’s website where residents can give suggestions to staffers. “The mayor and I have gotten lots of questions and comments about the dog beach, sometimes the same ones over and over again,” Fiske said. On Saturday, residents discussed a variety of different ideas to make the dog beach more accessible and enjoyable for Evanston residents. In addition

B Status Group Funding for Spring 2013

Masterson. The committee then recommends a funding amount for each group, which is then presented to Senate. After a week of deliberation, Senate then votes on the funding as old business at the next week’s meeting, where students like Reyes can appeal the decisions. Of the 91 B-status eligible groups, 47 applied for funding this quarter, Masterson said. This is an increase from the typical 30 to 35, she explained. “Even though it makes our job harder,

the daily northwestern

Ciara McCarthy/The Daily Northwestern

to opening the beach year round, attendees discussed moving the entrance of the beach to the south end of the park and how to make parking more accessible. Other topics of discussion included the fence enclosing the beach and the availability of seating. Some dog owners were concerned with beach-goers who didn’t clean up after their dog. “I just grin and bear it and pick up everyone else’s poo because otherwise my dog eats it,” dog owner Sari Kadison-

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Shapiro said. “I don’t think the city can really address this in an effective way.” Many of these issues are difficult to enforce, dog owners said, because not all beach-goers were responsible. Chuck Hager, who takes his border collie to the dog beach frequently, said many of the beach’s problems come from registered beach users who do not police other users. “I think the onus is on us to step it up,” Hager said. “If we work as a community,

ACHIEVING THE ‘A’ B-status groups receive a small percentage of the SAFC about 92 percent goes to » See FUNDING, page 6

UBPC presents survey findings By SUYEON SON

PLAYFUL PUPS Ald. Judy Fiske (1st) hosted a community meeting about Evanston’s dog beach on Saturday. Attendees unanimously requested that the beach be open year round. Currently, the beach is only open from April 1 to Nov. 30, a rule that is largely ignored.

I want more groups applying for B-status funding,” Masterson said. “We could potentially have an increase in the percentage of the funds for B-status groups, even if that makes things harder in the short-run.”

After months of planning and assessing students’ needs, the Undergraduate Budget Priorities Committee presented its findings to the University’s Budget and Planning Group on Thursday in preparation for fiscal year 2014, noting an increase in demand for improvement of mental health resources and persistent concern with financial aid availability. Just before the close of Fall Quarter, the UBPC sent out a survey to the undergraduate body, prompting students to voice their concerns and prioritize their requests for improvements on campus. The results were garnered from the responses of the 1,483 undergraduates who took the survey. “The fact that there is a waiting list at Counseling and Psychological Services stalls people from approaching them,” said SESP junior Billy Choo, who took the survey. “We had two cases of grievances that we had to take care of as a whole community, and I somehow felt like the University cannot just say ‘Please, know that CAPS is available to talk to,’ when they’re really understaffed.” Choo, who is also a member of NU Listens, a confidential peer listening service, felt the problem existed at the

financial level of management. “It’s not the fault of CAPS, it’s more the fault of the administration of not being able to fund enough of that,” he said. UBPC chair Chase Eck said students were mostly concerned about easing the process of reaching CAPS’ resources or finding out about its other services for less urgent needs. “It’s a holistic process,” the Weinberg junior said. “The answer is not just putting a ton of money into CAPS, but also asking, ‘How can we make our community more supportive?’” While Eck said concerns about mental health have increased this year, those centering around availability of financial aid have always been prevalent. “It has been an issue for a while,” he said. “However, it’s sort of hard to deal with that because the University has been putting a lot of funds into the area for the past four or five years already.” The proposal process for potential improvements to campus started as early as last Spring Quarter, Eck said. The UBPC met with student leaders to brainstorm ideas for issues that need to be addressed and sent out a preliminary, open-ended survey question to assess the general needs » See BUDGET, page 6

INSIDE Around Town 2 | On Campus 3 | Forum 4 | Classifieds & Puzzles 5 | Sports 8