The College Hill Independent, a weekly publication produced by students from both Brown and RISD, suffered a 4-percent budget decrease for the current semester. But what on the surface appears to be a minor cutback may actually signal a pressing funding problem for well-established student groups at Brown.
Undergraduate Finance Board Chair Adam Deitch '05 said UFB's budget had to be stretched last April when funding decisions were made in order to accommodate a growing number of new student groups. The UFB budget is comprised of each student's $136 annual student activity fee.
"Every group is incurring some degree of financial hardship right now," Deitch said.
UFB reduced the Indy's budget by almost $1,000 this year, amounting to a cut of about $465 each semester.
While the Indy's total budget comes in at over $10,000 per semester, the 4-percent budget cutback this year is the difference between producing 11 and 12 issues per semester, said Indy Business Manager Chris Hu '06.
"The more issues, the more chance that Brown students have to write for us and get experience writing for a publication," Hu said.
Last semester, the Indy closed shop before Thanksgiving break in November due to the budget decrease. "We'd prefer to be a presence on campus all semester," Hu said. "Part of it was the fear that if they cut one issue that they would continue cutting it."
Deitch explained that UFB had to cope with a 20-percent rise in the number of student groups - which now number 116 - and a student activities fee that did not increase to compensate for that growth.
The Indy is also a publication that has "seemingly easy avenues to pursue funding," Deitch said.
In response to repeated calls by UFB for independent fundraising, the Indy is now accepting outside advertising.
'We'd prefer not to have advertising," Hu said. "But we'd much rather put out the regular number of issues."
Hu noted that other larger, older student groups were being "squeezed" financially by younger student groups now obtaining Category III funding, essentially splitting the fiscal pie into ever-smaller pieces. The Undergraduate Council of Students determines the categorization status of all recognized student groups.
Category III student groups can receive thousands of dollars in funding from UFB, while Category II groups are eligible for only a small social activities stipend and Category I groups receive no funding.
