Club finance plan on ASI agenda

Devin Cook, Associated Students Inc.'s vice president of finance, will introduce legislation at today's meeting asking the Board of Directors to approve a resolution that, if passed, will give $2 to organizations based upon direct student votes.

Upon passage of Cook's resolution, all recognized on-campus organizations would be listed on the ballot in the annual elections, allowing students to vote in favor of two separate organizations from the list. ASI then fund each organization $2 for each direct student vote.

In response to concerns regarding possible discrimination against less-popular campus organizations, Jeff Harrelson, Co-Chair of ASI Student Relations Committee, said, "Every organization will still receive financial assistance from ASI."

"The purpose is to unify all campus organizations around one central theme," said Cook.

Cook hopes that the resolution will encourage the members of campus clubs to vote in the elections, which have a historically low turnout.

"We just want to give an incentive to groups to push their members and supporters to vote," said Harrelson.

Though Cook felt the resolution would not foster a "popularity contest" among clubs, he said that "clubs with larger participation will naturally have more votes and get a larger share of the allocated money."

"Political activism is an integral part of a community campus," said Cook.

At the 3 p.m. meeting in the California Suite, Cook will introduce another piece of legislation asking the Board of Directors to approve another change that would allow space where candidates can identify affiliation with on-campus entities. If the measure passes, the ballot will not include organizations that exist off-campus.

Currently the ballot in the annual elections does not contain a section for stating on-campus affiliation.

"Other CSU campuses have implemented successful programs like this, including San Jose and Chico," said Harrelson.