On Monday, the Student Government Association (SGA) will be voting on bill 47slXX, colloquially known as the “Bill to Revise SGA Fee Split and Institute New SGA Budgeting Process for University-Wide Divisions.” This will directly affect the fate of Media Council and other University-wide organizations. Funding will be subsumed by SGA, and organizations will no longer have the autonomy to allocate funding in ways they see fit.
Stripping this freedom establishes a dangerous precedent for future SGA legislatures to potentially stifle Emory’s media outlets and organizations.This bill was presented to the SGA Finance Committee two weeks ago and was approved last Monday to be voted on in the legislature. The elimination of the University-wide fee splits is tied to a bill to fund the hiring of a data entry specialist. With the deadline for funding a data entry specialist position fast approaching, the clause to subsume organizational funding rode on the coattails of a legitimate need for another SGA-hired position.
47slXX justifies the consolidation of the University-wide organizations’ power with two main points: standing issues with transparency and underrepresentation of graduate students. The first claim is easily dismissed, as Media Council meetings are open to any member of the Emory community. Furthermore, SGA has full access to every transaction made by Media Council and its member organizations. The issue of increasing the voice of graduate students is a more serious matter that deserves consideration, though removing agency from those closest to the situation is not a logical solution.
Media Council is happy to charter organizations from any school in the Emory community. In fact, that is our job as a University-wide organization. We feel that adding additional voting positions on Media Council filled by SGA, Graduate SGA or individuals from the community at large would ensure that everyone’s voices are heard. This and other proposals are important to discuss in the near future, but subsuming the entirety of the University-wide budget is an overreaction that the Emory student body has not had sufficient time to consider.
In light of cutting the Department of Visual Arts and the Journalism program, Media Council is now more important than ever. By centralizing the allocation of money, SGA is consolidating its power and stripping University-wide organizations of their autonomy. We are writing this appeal to oppose this bill as it stands.
The Emory Wheel was founded in 1919 and is currently the only independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University. The Wheel publishes weekly on Wednesdays during the academic year, except during University holidays and scheduled publication intermissions.
The Wheel is financially and editorially independent from the University. All of its content is generated by the Wheel’s more than 100 student staff members and contributing writers, and its printing costs are covered by profits from self-generated advertising sales.
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