ASUI attempts to save Wheatland
Nils Peterson
Written by Jeremy Castillo -Argonaut
Tuesday, 13 February 2007
The ASUI Senate is working to prevent public transportation on the
Palouse from becoming history. At last week's student fee proposal
hearing, ASUI President Berto Cerrillo asked for a $3-per-student
increase next semester to support Wheatland Express and Moscow Valley
Transit.
If passed, the hike will generate $50,000 - roughly one-third of the
systems' operating costs.
Recently, the University of Idaho proposed to stop annual payments
made to the Wheatland Express bus system, which would in turn affect
the funding of Moscow Valley Transit. The transit system receives
"soft-match" federal grant dollars for every dollar UI and Washington
State University spend in funding Wheatland Express.
UI decided it could no longer help fund the bus service, which was
created in part to accommodate students who travel between UI and WSU,
last year after a review of its general budget. The university made
payments to the service through Aug. 24, and has put into review the
question of whether it wants to continue funding the service for the
final year of the contract.
If it decides to discontinue the payments, Wheatland Express and
Moscow Valley Transit will need new sources of finance if they are to
continue.
Cerrillo said cutting the bus systems will cause problems for UI
students, especially those who live off-campus. "Not everyone owns
cars or wants to drive to school, so the Valley Transit system is the
best way for them to get around," he said. However, the proposal is
not cast in stone.
"We want to make a good-faith effort to let this system continue to
run," Cerrillo said. "But if our offer doesn't have anyone else come
forward to match it or help pay the total costs, then we'll pull it
off the table prior to April 19, the day we present to the State Board
of Education. We hope people in the community and other users help to
make the Valley Transit stay alive."
ASUI Sen. Michael Barker was originally against student fees paying
for the bus system. But after talking with Cerrillo, he now considers
the proposal a necessary step to keep public transportation on Palouse
roads.
"As the situation dictates, the student fees are an incentive to get
other sources, such as Moscow City Council, involved," Barker said.
"Hopefully, in the future, we can make the bus a self-sufficient
program. (But) without this, the bus would be dead in the water."
Another transportation cost Cerrillo asked for was a one-time $1.50
increase to buy two new vans for the Outdoor Program ASUI sponsors.
"They need to replace 15-passenger vans (because) they are no longer
safe and the university will no longer be using them," Cerrillo said.
"Unfortunately, that means the vans the program uses now have to be
replaced. One van was going to be replaced anyway because of its
mileage. We need to find money to replace it so the Outdoor Program
can continue to provide its service to students."
Another portion of ASUI's proposal was $6 to fund Alternative Service
Break projects.
Of that, $3 would be allocated to ASB's domestic volunteer efforts.
Cerrillo said this increase was necessary to cover the influx of
interest in the ASB program. Enrollment has grown consistently since
2002, from 12 to 101 people.
"As we get more participants, it costs more to send people to places,"
Cerrillo said. "Previously, (ASUI) had $20,000 to subsidize the costs.
This $3 would add to that dollar amount and provide $375 for up to 200
students. That makes a trip like what we're doing this Spring Break
(cost the students) about $100 to $150, which is reasonable
considering that they're flying almost three-quarters across the
United States. It pays for food and any registration or housing. So
it's a fantastic experience for a very modest price." ASUI Senator
Ashley Cochran will participate in this year's trip to New Orleans.
She's never visited The Big Easy, but chose to volunteer there instead
of going home or partying in Mexico with friends during Spring Break.
"I was talking about it with Steve Janowiak (ASUI's Assistant Director
of Student Activities)," Cochran said. "I wanted to see what happened
with Hurricane Katrina and experience it firsthand instead of watching
it on the news." With the other $3, Cerrillo wants to develop the ASB
Global Initiative, a project funding student volunteer work in foreign
countries.
"With more students participating, they're beginning to want to do
more in more places," Cerrillo said. "If we have the chance to go
abroad to areas that have poverty and hunger issues, we'd like to be
able to make those experiences available to students as well as
improve the quality of life in the places we'd travel.
"We tried to have that happen during this past Winter Break.
Unfortunately, the trips cost too much and we couldn't make them near
affordable for any number of students to go. We want to make that
happen, so the $3 would subsidize 50 students per year for up to
$1,000 to travel abroad and work on service projects." Such projects
could include building orphanages in South America, helping to build
homes in Ireland now that the IRA has turned in their guns and helping
African communities with health and poverty issues, Cerrillo said.
The final portion on ASUI's proposed fee increases is 50 cents per
student for the Senate itself. Depending on enrollment, the total
comes to roughly $8,000. One-fourth of that money would fund retreats
to better the senators as a team. "What we want them to do is to take
$2,000 and put it toward their retreat budget," said ASUI Vice
President Travis Shofner.
Right now the allocation for retreats is $500 per semester, which
Shofner said is not nearly enough. "Most of that gets eaten up in
meals and gas and renting vehicles," he said. "They are limited in
where they can go, what activities they participate in and how long
they can stay. It's usually a day-long thing because obviously they
can't stay overnight anywhere." Other people may not consider that
expense a big deal, but it's crucial senators get together to work on
their leadership skills, Shofner said.
"We haven't been able to do that over the last couple years because
the money doesn't allow us to facilitate any kind of meaningful
retreat for them," Shofner said. The other $6,000 would allow the
Senate to fund programs at their discretion. A recent example is the
Women's Center's Step and Stroll Program, which the senators voted to
help pay for at last week's meeting. If this part of the proposal is
passed, then the Senate would have more of a bankroll to give events
and activities.
"Every semester groups say 'We need $500' or they need this or that,"
Shofner said. "Other examples are people who want to go to conferences
that wouldn't fit in other areas on campus, so they don't have the
funding options others would have. "When individuals come to the
Senate, it doesn't have a fund where they can pay for these things to
help students realize their goals. This would give (the Senate) a
little bit of flexibility without dipping into other budget areas or
the General Reserve."
The General Reserve already gets a fraction of fees - $67.65 per
student, along with 50 cents for ASUI activities. Student fees also
pay for athletics, operations of facilities such as the Idaho Commons
and the Kibbie Dome and Health Services. Last year, student fees
increased to $1,984 from $1,816 in 2005. Time will tell how much
Vandals will pay come August.