Editor, Daily Nexus,

Anyone who attended UCSB last quarter probably remembers the A.S. Students’ Initiative. At the time, we were told that the fee increases outlined were entirely necessary. Even at the time, however, it was relatively obvious that the motion was flawed at best.

Families on financial aid were able to benefit from and vote for the motion without paying any of the increase. A huge increase was allotted for recreational sports – apparently the idea that people who want to play should buy their own equipment was alien to the creators. The actual size of the fee increase was debated not on the issue of how much money A.S. needed, but instead on how much they believed that UCSB students would be willing to pay. Additionally, a controlling majority of the tiny proportion of UCSB students required to pass the motion were actually in A.S.

A.S. has, of course, found many worthy causes for which to allocate the fee increase. For instance, they’ve decided to allocate $3,305 so that NORML can host a joint-rolling competition. I’m glad to know that my money is being spent on such a necessary pursuit. A.S. also decided that they should spend some of that hard-earned cash on themselves, and allocated $10,000 to their own marketing team. I guess all the bad publicity from their previous funding debacle was not enough to grant them the notoriety they want.
It seems obvious now that A.S. truly needed the money it asked for. We can look forward to many other funding increases, such as the planned $15,000 increase in funding for the Committee to Increase Fees, the $10,000 increase in funding for the Union of Binge Drinking and Alcohol Abusers and the $5,000 increase in for the Association of People Who Want to Go on Free Vacations.

Now, to be honest, I don’t know if these funding increases are directly related to the fee increase of last quarter. However, in reference to these funding increases two issues must be tackled. First, A.S. insisted that it required more funds to adequately do its job and then abused a system that it had installed the year before in order to push that funding through. Secondly, A.S. took money that, one way or another, was in its coffers and it spent the funds on nonsense.

It is always good to see our local student organizations taking a cue from those in Washington, spending money they don’t deserve on things nobody wants. Keep up the good work, A.S.

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