ASUA claims funding allocation reflects will of the student body

Leaders of minority groups say they are worried about the distribution of activity fee revenue because most of the money will go toward mainstream entertainment.

Eighty percent of the money generated from the proposed $30 fee would go toward entertainment on campus, but minority club leaders said more should be used for cultural programming and other events.

Student leaders defended the allocation of funds, saying it reflects the will of the students. But advocates on both sides of the issue acknowledge that the results of a survey on which they based their decision seemed questionable.

"The results did seem unnaturally high to us, so it's not completely accurate," said Associated Students of the University of Arizona Sen. Matt Harris, who worked on the fee proposal. "But it gave us a rough estimate of what students wanted."

Dega Farah, treasurer of the National Panhellenic Council, which oversees minority-interest greek organizations, said minority students will not benefit from the fee because the entertainment will be geared toward popular culture, and minority students have different interests than just large-scale concerts.

Amuche Okeke, finance co-chair for the National Society of Black Engineers, said the fee delegation should include cultural events as well as popular concerts to appeal to a broader range of students.

But Harris said 80 percent of the estimated $1.2 to $1.4 million generated by the fee is going to be used for entertainment because it is an "entertainment fee" and that is what the students want, according to a FMR Associates, Inc. survey released in February.

But a former member of the Collaboration Board, which consists of representatives from influential student groups, said the fee is based on "inadequate statistics."

Alberto Ranjel, a member of Omicron Delta Kappa, a national leadership honorary, quit the Collaboration Board, which created on the fee proposal, because he believed the results were exaggerated.

Ranjel said using 80 percent of the fee solely for entertainment is "excessive."

"It could be spent wisely elsewhere besides entertainment," he said.

Other students said they are also concerned that 80 percent of the fee is being allocated for entertainment even though it is being marketed as an activity fee.

Michelle Mozdzen, a sophomore majoring in German and biochemistry and molecular biophysics, said she hopes the fee will be used to "enrich the campus intellectually."

"I don't want to see it go towards trivial entertainment," she said.

According to the activity fee bylaws, 15 percent is reserved for general distribution and the remaining 5 percent is estimated to be refunded.

Greg Billings, University Activities Board president, said in February that it would cost $1.19 million to put on four free concerts roughly the size of a John Mayer performance.

- Dana Crudo contributed to this report.