ASUC to Subsidize OSL?
A week ago I reported that the Office of Student Life (permalinks fixed!) will be charging 40 dollars per student group to register with OSL. The Daily Cal followed up with an article giving more details on the increase, which contained this interesting nugget of information:

First-year student groups currently receive $200 in ASUC funding to cover start-up costs, [ASUC Executive Vice President Taina] Gomez said. But some of that money may end up covering the new registration fee instead of helping organizations pay for supplies, she said.

This brings to mind a couple of interesting questions:
*Do I really get 200 dollars of ASUC money just for getting three other signatories and starting a student group? And can I start more than one group... more than ten?
*What is to prevent student groups from disbanding every year and reforming with a new name to get the 200 dollars every year? (The Students for Democratic Reforms in Zimbabwe, to make up a club, could become the Democracy in Zimbabwe Club the next year, and then Students Supporting Zimbabwean Democracy, to keep getting that 200 dollars.)
*There are over 800 groups currently recognized by OSL. How many of those are getting ASUC funding at the moment? How many are getting more than 40 dollars?
*Does the creation of these new fees by OSL mean that student groups are going to be getting the 40 dollars from the ASUC and then just passing it on to OSL? Seems like it would be easier for OSL just to send the ASUC a request for however much they need to cover up their budget shortfall. Or, what about the University itself? Allowing for student groups to flourish (including through providing sufficient funding for OSL) should be the campus administrations highest priority. There must be some spare change lying around somewhere to throw at OSL.
*What does OSL need this roughly 30,000 dollars for? (800 groups times 40 dollars per group) Was their budget cut, or are they planning on increased costs for next year?
* Do student groups want all these new services being provided for them? From the Daily Cal article:

This year it increased services to groups by adding leadership workshops and online leadership resources.

Next year the office plans to increase their support in event planning and group development. The office also plans to launch a fully automated reservation system, which will give students the ability to complete administrative tasks online, [Marcia Gee Riley, director of Student Group Advising] said.

Are OSL groups actually going to these workshops and using these services, or is this just an example of useless school bureaucracy expanding for the sake of expanding, without providing student what they want? Personally, I'd prefer the minimal OSL services necessary (assisting in booking campus classrooms, but not leadership workshops, for instance) in exchange for being to start a student group for free. What about the rest of the clubs on campus? Anyone know what the sentiment is on this?

Anyone with answers to any of these questions, speak up in the comments.


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