The ASUU General Assembly approved a $1.39 million student government budget for the 2008-2009 school year during its meeting Tuesday.
The approved budget includes renewed funding for KUTE, the U’s student-run radio station, which has been off the air for two years.
The Assembly approved an allocation of $15,000 for the student broadcast council, which oversees KUTE. The council will be in charge of the $15,000 and administer portions of it as it sees fit throughout the year.
“There’s a lot of potential (with KUTE), and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes,” said Patrick Reimherr, next year’s Associated Students of the University of Utah president.
KUTE will take on a more Internet-centered broadcast, rather than over an analog AM radio.
The Assembly also approved the rest of the proposed budget. The changes from last year include an extra $150 for the Freshman Council because freshmen are the future of the U and should have the extra support, said Suneeti Agrawal, director of the ASUU Finance Board.
The student body president must sign the new budget, and the U board of trustees must approve it.
One-fourth of the budget for campus courtesy phones will also be cut, bringing it down to $9,750. An assessment conducted by ASUU found that many courtesy phones are unused because most students have cell phones. The budget cut will eliminate 16 of the 64 phones on campus.
Senate Chair Ryan Jensen said it is unlikely that any more courtesy phones will be eliminated any time in the next few years, because some phones in key locations, such as the Student Services Building, are necessary.
Although the budget cut for courtesy phones raised some questions from Assembly members during the meeting, Jensen assured that Agrawal and the rest of ASUU’s Finance Board have analyzed the situation and have assessed it properly.
The budget for Rock the U, an annual dance marathon fundraiser for the Huntsman Cancer Foundation, will also be cut by $10,000 to $15,000. Rock the U’s fundraising can be just as effective on its new budget, especially because attendance was lower this year than last year, Jensen said.
The Senate Contingency budget will also have an added $19,250 next year, bringing its total to $83,000. The senate has had to rely on General Reserve funds because more and more students are requesting transfers, and the new budget should help accommodate that, Jensen said.
The senior class will also receive an extra $2,000 next year, bringing its new budget to $15,250.
Aaron SchwendimanScott Carver, representative for the College of Science, and ASUU vice president Basim Motiwala look over papers for ASUU budgets.