Once again, the yearly allocations meetings have arrived.

 
This year, however, there was a bit of difficulty. 14 clubs which hadn’t previously received allocations requested money, and additionally the distributable budget was down by $8,000. In summary virtually none of WSC’s clubs got their requested amount.

 
Earlier this semester the Student Senate approved a $2 increase to the student activity fee (which would net a $24 increase in tuition per semester for full-time students). But that measure has yet to be passed by the Board of Trustees who will decide over the summer.

 
This fee increase was proposed and approved by the senate after senators brought up that, as a whole, clubs were getting consistent cuts to their allocations from year to year.

 
Just like most clubs on campus, the Senate asked for more than it expected to be approved with regards to the $2 increase.

 
Even if the board only approves the fee going up $1, it should add approximately $50,000 to the budget for next semester assuming enrollment estimates hold true.

 
In that case, clubs are encouraged to appeal to the Senate in the fall for additional funds.

 
As a sort of stopgap measure, to keep as much of the budget open as possible for other organizations, the senate approved a much smaller allocation to the Student Activities Board than usual with the understanding that the balance of its usual amount will come in the fall following the fee increase.

 
Students enrolling in the fall will find that at least one other fee is going up at the same time. In addition to the activity fee rising, the college is adding the cost of parking passes into tuition so that students are no longer paying for them out-of-pocket.

 
This means that enrolled students simply have to drop by Hahn to fill out the paperwork associated with getting a pass, but after that there should be no hassle. There’s been no word on whether there will be different pricing for commuter students and the somewhat rare campus motorcyclist, or if there will be a flat increase in tuition.