By Daniel Myers
News Associate

Tuesday, the Associated Students of Pomona College (ASPC) passed its budget for the 2000-2001 academic year. The ASPC budget, which will total $366,800, is the primary source of funding for most campus organizations.

The 2000-2001 budget features new funding for several organizations. In addition to a number of other groups, the College Town Committee, the Law Society, the Worker Support Committee, and the new online publication The Asterisk all received ASPC funding for the first time this year. The ASPC also contributed $4,000 to the school's alcohol fund and increased its contribution to the CCLA major events budget to $56,153, up from the $48,000 it received last year.

Some student organizations will see their ASPC support increased. KSPC's budget was increased from $13,500 to $16,500, and Metate, Studio 47, the Environmental Quality Committee, Ski & Beach Day, and On The Loose were among the other organizations to receive additional support.

OTL's additional funding will help the group run trips over next year's spring break. "In the past, they've funded about a third of spring break trips. This year, they only paid for camping fees, so per their request we asked for more money this year [in OTL's total appropriation] for the trips," explained OTL coordinator Boyar Naito '00."

However, many organizations will see their budgets reduced next year. ASPC reduced its contributions to the Residence Halls, The Student Life, the Volunteer Center, The Student Alternative, The Asian American Student Alliance, and Women's Blue and White, among others. ACT!, a five-college activist group, was among the organizations that saw its funding completely cut.

"We submitted a detailed list of what we needed, and I think we were pretty clear on why we needed it...it would have benefited virtually every progressive group on campus," complained ACT! coordinator Andrew Cvitanovich '02. "I just feel like they're really antagonistic towards groups which represent what might be considered minorities on campus, or that have different views."

Part of this reduction is due to a significant one-time expense in next year's budget; ASPC will spend $15,000 on new equipment to replace its inadequate budget planning system. "It's not just because of the accounting system, but that did put a dent in our ability to fund[organizations]," explained ASPC Vice President Putnam Shin '00. "It is certainly my hope that next year we'll get more money."

However, Shin believes that the budget process is fair. "The budget committee spent over 23 hours on just budget allocations, both listening to presentations and reading proposals. We try to be as fair as we can," Shin said. However, Shin also admitted that "every case is unique, some groups got what they needed, some got less.