The end of last year saw intense clamor from student organizations defending their budgets from cuts by the ASPC. Cuts in funding for Pomona organizations, both deep and widespread, signaled a return by the Senate to a more severe budgeting process.

Although the total amount of money distributed by the budget committee for this year was slightly larger than the amount the year before, the amount of money allocated to Pomona student organizations was reduced by over 40 percent (see figure one). Likewise, the total amount allocated to 5-C organizations showed a modest increase, although there were numerous changes in which organizations received funding preference.

The Pomona organization that received the largest cut was the Medical Sciences Society, which had its budget cut by 71 percent. The Climbing Club and Gorilla Farming organization, a club that promotes organic farming, had its budget cut by half.

Five existing groups were given no funding for this year. The Dynamics of Difference and Power (a student group intended to study diversity issues), the Economics Club, the Field Hockey Club, the Pomona College Law Society and The Asterisk newspaper (which ceased production last year) all had their budgets eliminated. According to ASPC records, none of these five groups submitted official requests for funding in time for consideration. "[The] budget committee can only allocate money to groups that request money," said Adam Rick ’02, who served on the budget committee last year. Other members of that budget committee, including former ASPC President Brian Andrews ’01 and former ASPC Vice-President Ellen Lin ‘01, could not be reached for comment.

One of the organizations which survived budget cuts with an increased budget was a new organization called Students for a Sensible Drug Policy, which brings speakers to campus to promote changes in U.S. drug policy. The organization was allocated a $1,000 budget for this year, while the group had no funding last year. "We did it on a sort of case-by-case basis for the Students for a Sensible Drug Policy," said Rick, "Its almost like performance based funding. If a club brings in a great speaker they can come back for more money."

Some groups came to the full Senate with requests for additional funding as soon as their budgets for this year had been announced. At the time when most students were for final examsexams, a protracted battle in the Senate was being fought over the budgets for The Student Life newspaper (TSL) and the Asian American Student Alliance (AASA). In both cases the cuts by the budget committee were reversed by the full senate.

Some 5-C organizations and ASPC organizations were also hit by budget cuts. The biggest cuts for 5-C groups were sustained by the Heart of the Sea and Pomona-Pitzer Men’s Volleyball, both of which were cut by 90 percent and the Chinese Students Association (CSA), cut by 71 percent. CSA President Allen Kuo ’03 was among many organization leaders angered by the new budget, "Truthfully, I did not expect a budget cut that enormous by the ASPC. The whole staff is dumbfounded and confused about why this happened. I was never able to get an official response about why this happened," said Kuo. "There needs to be an accounting. They need to tell us why our budgets have been cut. They should issue a report after the budgets are designed. And they need to have a system of appeals. The budget needs to be done earlier, because there must be a chance to appeal, and not in the middle of finals week or right before."

According to ASPC records, a large number of 5-C groups also failed to submit budget requests in time to be considered, including the Association of South Asian Students and the Vietnamese American Students Association. In addition, a number of groups that requested funding received no funding, including the Muslim Students’ Association and Habitat for Humanity.

Mightier than the Sword, the 5-C writers group that publishes the literary magazine Passwords, after a year of publishing with ad hoc appropriations from Senate, was added to the regular budget with $4,000 for this year. "I was happy and really surprised about our budget. We had a pretty good reaction from the senate. We aimed high and ended up getting a lot of what we asked for. I think this money will go to make a very good magazine. Our main goal is to keep making the magazine better," said Kristen Kearns ’02, the Editor-in-Chief of Passwords.

A number of 5-C political action groups also escaped the trend of budget cuts, and received increases in their small budgets. These include the Big Mountain Dine Support group, Students for BFS, and Unidos. The Chiapas Support Committee had its funding restored from zero.

Although TSL ultimately came out with just a very small cut, other ASPC media organizations were cut substantially. Studio 47’s budget was cut by 49 percent and to KSPC’s budget by 24 percent.

A total of almost $50,000 was kept unallocated or in reserve by the budget committee. Commenting on the need for the large sum of money in reserve, Rick said, "We have a lot of unexpected costs that come up at the end of the year. For example, CCLA has a history of going into debt. The budget has often grossly underestimated the cost of security at CCLA events." $72,000 was budgeted to CCLA for this year, as well as $20,000 for campus security at CCLA events and $1,000 for the new student security force to assist them.

The Volunteer Center also saw an increase in its budget by 24 percent. "One of the principles that we tried to implement last year and tried to put in the bylaws was a clause along the lines of, ‘The benefit to the entire community [of an organization] shall be at least as great as the benefit to individuals.’ Ski club money basically went to subsidize a condo for people who wanted to ski. We tried to figure out how to use the money best for everybody’s benefit. Trying to reach the broadest range of students," said Rick. "I felt that there was too much a sense of entitlement."

Politics professors at Pomona are fond of comparing the budget allocation process to deciding how to divide a cake, and then deciding which pieces go to whom. This year the ASPC has divided up the cake a little differently than in the past. And if the cost cutting sentiment reflected by last year’s budget committee is also felt by this year’s Senate, the cake itself may be getting smaller. "We decided that it would benefit everybody if we cut student fees. Renegotiation of student fees is coming up," said Rick.