CitrusTV and a Rock the Dome concert proposed to take place next fall received zero funding from the fall 2012 Student Association programming budget.

During the first of two SA budget meetings of the 56th session, officials stated that CitrusTV and Rock the Dome were not funded for vastly different reasons, but Comptroller Stephen DeSalvo said both organizations can appeal SA’s decision. CitrusTV was denied funding for missing its budget hearing, while the Finance Board did not wish to fund another large-scale University Union event.

DeSalvo said in an interview after the meeting that the Finance Board will decide on appeals this week, and the new bills will be voted on during the SA meeting next Monday. The second budget meeting will be held during the fall semester.

The total amount available for fall 2012 programming, accumulated through the student activity fee, was $1,815,541.49. The Finance Board allotted $1,458,837.49 of the total amount to various Syracuse University organizations for upcoming programming. The amount now available for fall 2012 appeals is $406,704.

CitrusTV requested $261,468.30 to fund the organization for the fall. SA granted the organization zero funding because CitrusTV representatives failed to attend their budget hearing with the Finance Board. A similar situation happened to Jerk magazine in the fall for the spring 2012 budget process.

DeSalvo said he and CitrusTV’s general manager spoke and determined the reason for missing the meeting was not an extenuating circumstance. Therefore, it cannot be rescheduled, and CitrusTV must request the funding though the appeals process.

UU requested $285,219.47 for the next Rock the Dome concert, proposed to be held during the fall semester instead of the spring. SA denied all funding for this event. Members of the Finance Board do not believe SA should use the student activity fee to fund three large-scale concerts, as they already supply funding for Juice Jam, Block Party and the smaller MayFest event, DeSalvo said.

The members also said the timing of the event, in moving the concert date to the fall semester instead of the spring like it was done this year, was too close to Juice Jam in terms of UU being able to promote the event.

Briana Cacuci, the vice president of UU, said in an interview after the meeting that the organization decided to move the date because members felt the fall may be a better time for the event. She said she is unsure what the next step will be for acquiring funding for Rock the Dome, as a number of internal discussions need to take place before any decisions can be made.

The first Rock the Dome concert, held this spring, was funded by a separate SA allocation that was not part of the spring 2012 programming budget.

Members of the Finance Board would like to see UU use more of the revenues generated from Juice Jam, Block Party or even this year’s Rock the Dome to become more self-sustaining, DeSalvo said.

‘It’s not that the Finance Board doesn’t want to see UU hold three large-scale concerts,’ DeSalvo said. ‘They don’t want to fund three large-scale concerts from the student activity fee because we want UU to use their revenue to pay for it.’

rebarill@syr.edu 

Published on April 9, 2012 at 12:00 pm