The Associated Students Finance Board dispersed $47,404 to 19 student organizations during last night’s four-hour meeting.

The board voted to fully fund American Students for Israel, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated, UCSB Dance Team, the Salvadoran Student Union (USEU), Reel Loud, the Office of Residential Life, Human Rights Council and I.D.E.A.S., while voting to partially fund Gaucho Tour Association, GreenScreen, Vietnamese Student Association, Armenian Student Association, Rhythms of Brazil Cultural Club, Roller Hockey Club, Iaorana te Otea, Stress Management Peer Organization, Communication Association, Taiwanese American Student Association and Israeli Palestinian Film Festival.

Gamma Zeta Alpha sought funding for their third annual Cinco de Mayo Festival, an all-day event this month consisting of day festivities on the San Miguel lawn, as well as a late night dance in the Student Resource Building.

Board member Bennett Duval said he was concerned about what the funds would directly pay for.

“Two things concern me about this event,” Duval said. “It is not on Cinco de Mayo, it is in April and that concerns me. I understand the appeal of doing it on a Friday, but most people celebrate Cinco de Mayo on the day, no matter what day of the week, in my experience here over the last three years.”

The board also voiced concerns about the cultural relativity of some of the activities for which the fraternity requested funding. Board member Jorge Solis said the board should not fund particular events because of their seeming lack of relevance to the event’s purpose.

“I don’t know what happened in our Mexican culture that makes a low-rider car show relevant [to cultural awareness],” Solis said. “So I don’t think that we should fund that.”

The board eventually voted to table Gamma Zeta Alpha’s request until next week’s meeting.

Special Coordinator for the Office of the Internal Vice President Ashley Day, who is spearheading the Disabled Students Transportation System, also presented to the board. Day asked the board to reallocate $20,000 from the Parking Recharge Fund and $15,000 from the Office of the IVP Special Project’s Business Administration Fund to a new fund with $65,000 for the creation of the project.

“We are going to transport disabled students, permanent and temporarily, in a transportation loop,” Day said. “The loop would be at the Residence Halls and take students to their classes. It would also pick up students at the bus loop and Ocean Road. There was a program similar to this 15 years ago, but with budget cuts, it was cut. We are looking to get carts that are weather proofed and have seats on the back to transport.”

Board member Marcus Rochellle said he was concerned about the lack of management for the pool of $100,000.

“The only thing that scares me, is that we are putting funds where there is no supervision,” Rochellle said. “It is a lot of money that could be spent in a way without any oversight. But I think that it is a great idea and should get done.”

Duval said that since the system is capable of benefiting the entire student body, it was the board’s duty to allocate enough funds for the project to succeed.

“I’ve been on crutches on campus and I couldn’t get around, it was horrible,” Duval said. “I know [other people] had that same experience. This is exactly what we need to fund. It’s sad that administration won’t fund this so it’s up to us to fund a project like this.”

The board ultimately voted to shuffle around multiple funds and reallocate $100,000 to the Disabled Student Transportation Project.

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