By Dan Polley and Ryan Cardarella

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Student Association Senate debated for at least four hours Sunday about Senate Finance Committee funding recommendations.

The SFC recommendations were controversial because they would not fund some of the services on campus, including the 8th Note Coffeehouse; the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) Center; the LINKS Peer Outreach and Mentoring Center; the Women�¢����s Resource Center (WRC); the Center for Volunteerism & Student Leadership (CVSL); and the UWM Dance Team.

If the Senate passed those recommendations, those services would not be funded through SFC money and would have to find funding elsewhere.

Some members of the SFC argued that the WRC and the LGBT Center offered �¢����duplicate services,�¢��� in reference to the Women�¢����s Issues Coordinator and the LGBT Issues Coordinator hired by the SA. However, when asked whether the SA coordinators could perform the same services as the centers that were considered duplicate, both said that they could not.

Late in the meeting, the Senate, by a vote of 21-6, declared the LGBT Center eligible for funding. In separate votes, the Senate also approved the CVSL (by a 24-5 vote), WRC and LINKS (by a 21-10 vote) while denying the Dance Team and 8th Note Coffeehouse (by a 21-9) vote of SFC funding.

The groups that were approved for eligibility will be funded at their approved 2006-�¢����07 rates, the Senate voted 21-6.

The Senate voted earlier 11-22-2 against approving a package of funding for student orgs and services recommended by the Senate Finance Committee.

Early in the discussion of the SFC recommendations, the Senate packaged and passed the following funding recommendations: Campus Activities Board, SA executive branch, SA legislative branch, University Student Court, Student Activities Office, legal clinic, BOSS, UPass, off-campus housing, Athletics and the children�¢����s center. Those services were passed at the funding levels recommended by SFC to the Senate.

At around 10 p.m., the Senate voted 21-11 to make eligible for funding the following centers: Women�¢����s Resource Center, Peer Mentoring, Center for Volunteerism & Leadership and the LGBT Center. The measure did not pass because all SFC-related votes need 2/3 majority to pass.

Members of the SFC committee stood by their decision and appeared to feel undermined by the Senate approval process.

�¢����We got together and listened to requests for three weekends, we reviewed everyone�¢����s eligibility, and we said no,�¢��� said Sen. Tobin Huibregtse. �¢����There is money available elsewhere. Go and take it up with the chancellor.�¢���

But some senators felt that the committee�¢����s decision to declare those services ineligible was wrong.

�¢����We cannot declare these services ineligible because we hope the university would fund them,�¢��� said Sen. Chris Wiley. �¢����How are we using money on bettering a student? How are we spending too much money on students?�¢���

SA Vice President Jon Tingley, who served on SFC, said that the services that were deemed ineligible were only given an opportunity to defend their services through writing.

�¢����By declaring them ineligible, we aren�¢����t giving them any chance,�¢��� Tingley said.

Other senators said the Senate should not take up funding services that were deemed ineligible because most senators did not take viewpoint neural training, which is required of those senators who serve on SFC.

�¢����We don�¢����t know how much these (services) are used,�¢��� Huibregtse said. �¢����This money�¢����s not going to students, it�¢����s going to someone�¢����s paycheck.�¢���

Kevin Lessmiller contributed to this report.

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