Cab cuts cause for concern

3/20/08

By Ben Holbrook
Managing Editor

The Campus Activities Board (CAB) recently found itself on the receiving end of budget cuts during Wednesday night’s house meeting.

For the first time during a house meeting, CAB had their budget cut in order to prevent the other clubs from having their budgets be further reduced. CAB has an advantage over most clubs since it is guaranteed that the club will receive 50 percent of the student activities fee.

CAB’s budget for the 2008-2009 year was originally $119,000 but after the recent cuts it was reduced to about $100,000. “Based on this year’s costs we’ll have to adjust,” Kate Murphy, CAB adviser, said in response to the budget cut. Due to rising costs, especially with gas prices will be forced to scale down, Murphy said.

One of the more expensive events for CAB is the number of bus trips to different places because a bus typically costs about $3000. CAB increased the number of bus trips this year because of their popularity on campus and not because President Carol Moore requested they do so as some believed, Murphy said.

If CAB’s budget had been cut below 50 percent then the money would be taken from elsewhere such as, the general fund, Murphy said. “I understand why the cuts needed to made however, the cuts hurt CAB’s ability to host activities,” Murphy said. “We’ll have to make do with what we have,” Murphy said.

CAB asked for more money for next year in order to offset the rising costs associated with the variety of activities that are done. CAB’s budget for this year was around $82,000, which was just enough to cover costs, Murphy said. With the bus trips CAB paid a $200-$300 surplus to cover the cost of fuel, Murphy said.

The areas of CAB’s budget that were cut include their large venue section, which covers any events that are held in the Alexander Twilight Theater. These events cost $1,000 or more. The opening weeks section was also cut which would cover costs for the large number of events that are hosted during the first full week of the fall and spring semesters.

Money was cut from CAB’s commuter day funds however, funding will be taken from other areas in order to still host some commuter events, although there won’t be as many events, Murphy said. The commuter day events were targeted at students who couldn’t attend events later in the evenings.

Fund raising could be a future task undertaken by CAB although, it is very difficult to raise the amount of money CAB lost through fund raising alone, Murphy said.

In the future Murphy would, “love to se people come to the meetings so that they can better understand why CAB gets so much money.” If students have any suggestions they are encouraged to email either Murphy or Brandon Buckley.

CAB meets at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday nights in the CAB office in the student center.