By
Maya Schechter
Arizona Daily Wildcat
ASUA execs skeptical about Fall Ball budget, "pull the plug" plan approved
While Fall Ball 2000 has received a positive reaction from many students, it has been causing much controversy within the ASUA Senate, which came out several times last night in arguments between senators.
During the almost two hours of discussion about Fall Ball, the most pressing issue among the Associated Students senators and executive officers was the "pull the plug" plan.
Sen. Jose Ramirez motioned to approve the "pull the plug" idea, which was originally proposed by Sen. Matt Bailey to ensure that the Senate will not lose more than $3,300 if the project fails.
The plan states that if 350 tickets are not sold by Oct. 21, the project will be terminated.
If the project is stopped after the Oct. 21 deadline, Fall Ball will lose more than $14,000, said Ramirez.
"The downfall to this plan is that we have already gotten $1200 in sponsorships and that may complicate things if we pull the plug," Bailey said.
"Please, God, don't let us pull the plug," he added.
The Senate approved the plan and then went on to vote on the next motion, which was proposed by Sen. Tricia Williams.
After a few friendly amendments, the approved motion stated that Fall Ball would not be able to "encumber a payable debt of an amount exceeding $3,300 before the date of Oct. 21 or before 350 tickets have been sold."
ASUA President Ben Graff, Administrative Vice President Tiffany Podbielski and Treasurer Adi Knishinsky talked about the hesitations of giving Fall Ball money from their individual budgets.
Graff said that they were in support of Fall Ball, but were concerned with the money that would be lost if the event was to be canceled.
"I love taking risks, but I don't think that $3,300 is well spent money because we will have no event to show for it," Podbielski said.
The senators and the executives decided on continuing their discussion at a later time.
In other business, the Senate approved funding $92 for a town hall hosted by Arizona Secretary of State Betsey Bayless on Oct. 4.
"Bayless is a UA graduate and probably the second most powerful person in Arizona regarding issues that concern students," Sen. Seth Frantzman said.
The Senate also approved the new Bear Down Camp bylaws, which created a second camp with its own executive committee and staff.
