The Rattler November 22, 2006 v. 94 #6 - Blume Library - St. Mary's ...

NewsNovember 22, 2006 The Rattlerwww.stmarytx.edu/rattler 3University plans forshort and long termbudgetary needsAdministrators explain funding decisions.Continued from page 1office started the Hot Topic Series“wanting to be more responsive tostudent questions.”The topic of university fundingwas chosen this fall due to theamount of students’ concern.Day then presented the differentperspectives and timehorizonsfor obtaining andspending funds.The perspectives include theMarianists, the trustees, and thestudents, faculty and staff.Day said that the first time-horizonis short term, “the year-toyearoperating budget.”The short-term budget is fundedthrough tuition and fees, annualfund contributions and theMarianist Trust.This budget funds faculty andstaff salary and benefits, scholarships,equipment, SGA budgetand university materials.The funds are allocated bybalancing enrollment and affordabilitywith paste x p e r i e n c e s ,“Fundraising is a science.Prospects mustbe identified, cultivatedand solicited.”new initiativesand unavoidablecosts.The BudgetCommittee,which has twostudent repre s e n t a t i v e s ,votes to recommendthe budgetto the trusteesfor approval.“The second time-horizon ismidterm, which can be three,five, 10 or 15 years of allocation,”Day said.The midterm horizon is fundedby any money left over from theoperating budget and the solicitationof donors.The midterm budget funds financialaid that will supplementforeseeable reductions in state andfederal funding.It also funds the Study Abroadprogram, technology updates andcampus repairs.The budget is recommendedby the Executive Council to theuniversity president, who thenrecommends it to the trusteesfor approval.As for the long term budget, itcan last many years and is meantto support future generations ofSt. Mary’s students.The sources include the interestearned off of the endowment,major gifts from donors and theMarianist Trust.Vice president Galvin said thestaff of University Advancementis trained to build relationshipswith individuals, alumni, corporationsand foundations in orderto encourage financial support.This support provides first andforemost for scholarships, whichlast year, according to Galvin,saw over a 100 percent increasein funding.“Fundraising is a science,” Galvinsaid. “Prospects must be identified,cultivated and solicited.”Identification of prospectsrequires research tofind alumni who have startedor have already establishedthemselves professionally.Cultivation of these prospectsis the construction of a relationshipfounded upon trustand understanding.Solicitation of the prospectsmust come at the right time, andmust relate to the prospect’s concernsand interests.According to Galvin, it takesapproximately “three to fiveyears to cultivate a one milliondollar gift.”A gift like that of Bill Greehey’s$25 million donation last year tothe business school takes nearly40 years of cultivation.Galvin said that Greehey’s firstgift to the school upon his graduationin 1960 was four dollars.Galvin made it clear that thesegifts are not given- Tom Galvin,Vice President ofUniversity Advancementeveryday. To getsuch large gifts,it must be at the“right time” andunder the rightcircumstances.Among themajor concernsbrought up in thepanel discussionwas the fundingof the Bell Tower.Galvin said that the largest contributorto the Bell Tower was analumnus from the class of 1962.He wanted the money to gospecifically toward the Bell Towerin memory of his late motherand son.Galvin added that this contributionis classified as a “restrictedgift” and the university is ethicallyand legally bound to follow theconstraints of the gift.Other concerns includedthe building of a new residencehall and funding forstudent organizations.Sisoian assured students thatthe need for a new residence hallhas been recognized, and “as soonas a price can be put on the project,it can be taken to Finance.”Junior biochemistry major RachelKeller posed the question ofhow much money is allocated forstudent organizations.Sisoian said that historically,the only organizations receivinguniversity funding are those thatdo not require dues.Those organizations are fundedthrough the operating budget.Sophomore marketing majorSasha Castillo said she found thepanel discussion very informational.“[The panelists] explainedthe topic very well and studentsshould not think negatively aboutuniversity funding,” Castillo said.Castillo and Martinez agreedthat students should understandthat funding must be prioritized.Students plant trees on campusPHOTO BY JONATHAN HERNANDEZLed by the Service Learning Center,students helped plant trees in aneffort to beautify campus.Continued from page 1Marie Crabb said.Crabb said she hopes that thePow Wow will get the word outabout her organization and theAmericans Indians.“This helps the Native Americanscelebrate their culture andkeep their traditions alive,”she said.The NASA Pow Wow is anintertribal event consisting ofsuch tribes as the Lipan Apache,By ERICA RIVERASTAFF WRITERIn an effort to make the universitya bigger part of the surroundingcommunity, volunteers fromthe Service Learning Center (SLC)partnered with the UniversityPark Neighborhood Associationto plant trees along the gates onCulebra and Camino Santa Mariaon Nov. 11.Students who helped dig theholes for young trees at the eventsaid that volunteering their timeto perform this physical work wasfor a good cause.“We need trees to make thiscampus more inviting,” saidsophomore elementary educationmajor Selena Mendoza.Sophomore biology majorNorma Maldonado agreed, “Thiscampus needed those trees tosoften up the outer perimeter ofthe school.”The university hopes that thesenew trees will help to instill incurrent students, incoming freshmenand their families a sense ofpride in the areas encircling theNavaho and Cherokee. Most ofthe dancers heard about the eventhrough flyers handed out atother ceremonies.Though most of the participantsare from Texas, there havebeen a few from out of state.“All we got to say is we gota Pow Wow,” said Colton in responseto how NASA gets theword out.Colton said that hosting suchPow Wows is a way for studentscollege grounds.“Besides, it will be a type oftime capsule, now, in the futurewhen we look back there is goingto be something to see that Ihelped do,” Mendoza said.Junior biology major AngelicaVillarreal agrees.“I like to think that somedaymy children will get to see thetrees that we planted,” she said.The event attracted a goodnumber of students from differentorganizations on campus aswell as those not involved in anyspecific one.They came together with thecommon goal of improving theirschool and community, a placethey now consider a home awayfrom home.“Working with good peoplefor a good cause…those are goodtimes,” Villarreal said with a smileas she looked at the trees she hadhelped to plant.Students also had the opportunityto enjoy themselveswhile doing service to beautifythe community.Service is sacred for Native Americansto become interconnected to anation that so many have losttouch with.“It’s been a tragedy that policiesof genocide made peopleashamed or fearful of being Indian,”he said.A way to share a person’sculture is to allow others to experiencean authentic religiousceremony. To American Indians,that sacred religious service is aPow Wow.