The Associated Students Finance Board allocated $3,250 between four student groups yesterday to support international and local political causes and in one case, sex education.

In a brief meeting, board members fully funded the Foreign Affairs Club’s $750 request for its annually published Foreign Affairs Journal, and the A.S. state affairs organizing director’s $1,000 request to help pay for a conference on the current social upheaval in Oaxaca, Mexico. The board partially funded a $496.46 request from newly formed student group SexInfo, and a $2,300 request from Chilla Vista to be used for its festival slated for Dec. 2.

The $1,000 requested by the state affairs organizing director, a position under the A.S. external vice president of statewide affairs office, will fund travel expenses incurred by the group’s upcoming trip to a Nov. 18 conference in Mexicali, Mexico. According to a promotional flier for the event printed in last night’s Finance Board agenda, the conference is part of a multinational support movement backing Oaxacans who have recently created a political uprising in their struggle to oust the state’s current governor.

Kelly Burns, a fourth-year global studies major who attended the meeting as a proxy for A.S. External Vice President of Local Affairs Joel Rodriguez-Flores, said it was important for the board to fiscally support the event.

“I feel we should have student representation there,” Burns said. “After it’s over we will have a report back session where we will discuss how it affects students.”

The board unanimously approved $1,000 for the group.

The board also heard the requests of the new campus group SexInfo, which was formed this fall. According to the organization’s website, SexInfo aims to provide easier access to information on sex-related topics – like sexually transmitted diseases, sexual difficulties, contraception and sexual violence – to the UCSB community. The group’s website is run entirely by students doing research and advanced course work for the sociology department, and is also affiliated with the department’s 152a “Human Sexuality” course.

Justin Mead, SexInfo vice president and third-year sociology major, said the organization needs funds for advertising and promotional materials to publicize the new club.

“What we are looking for is start-up funds for advertising to let people know we are out there,” Mead said.

The board approved $200 to cover the cost of advertising quarter sheets, in addition to Facebook and Nexus advertising – with one abstention and ten members casting votes in favor of the approval.

Additionally, board members unanimously allocated $1,300, out of a requested $2,300, to local group Chilla Vista to help fund its upcoming fall festival, slated for Dec. 2. The group’s first festival – held last June in Isla Vista – featured a variety of live musical performances and educational events aimed to inform attendees about environmental health and sustainability.

Toward the end of the meeting, board member Raymond Meza expressed his concern about a recent decline in meeting attendance rates among Finance Board officials, citing a few members’ frequently recurring incidences of unexcused absences.

“There are clearly some people who are not making a commitment,” Meza said. “Maybe if people haven’t resigned then we should put them up for removal.”