SFC chair: One in, one out, one waiting

One candidate remains for the chair of the Student Fee Committee (SFC), down from three at the end of winter term.

Meaghan Mayeda is still in the running, while Amanda Newberg and Brittany Clark both failed to turn in applications to run by the deadline Wednesday night. Ethan Gross, chair of the Elections Board, said Newberg would have to turn in late registration paperwork to run in the elections.

For late registration, Newberg will have to gather 20 signatures and petition the Elections Board. Gross and Rudy Soto, the presidential candidate on the same slate as Newberg, both think Newberg will turn in late registration paperwork.

The SFC allocates $10 million each year to student groups including athletics and the Vanguard. The SFC chair is responsible for overseeing all operations of the SFC such as processing budget requests, processing reserve requests and enacting student fee guidelines.

The SFC chair works closely with the Associated Students of Portland State University (ASPSU) executive staff and student senate. The chair meets regularly with the president and vice president of the student body and serves as the SFC’s representative to the Administration and Oregon Students Association.

Amanda Newberg has been involved in student government for three years, since she first came to PSU. She served on the executive staff as the legislative affairs director for the 2005-06 school year and as a senator for several years, a position she currently holds.

Newberg said she has a solid understanding of the way the SFC functions after having observed them throughout her career at ASPSU. Newberg says that she would like to bring her responsible attitude into the process of the SFC.

“I’d like to be involved in the SFC instead of just watching them,” Newberg said.

Meaghan Mayeda is currently a member of the SFC and served as a senator last year. Mayeda says she found it rewarding to work with student leaders to find out what they need.

“I’ve really enjoyed that work,” Mayeda said.

After being involved with the SFC this year, and observing current SFC Chair Madeline Enos, Mayeda said she feels that she is capable of performing the duties required of the position.

“Ultimately, I assessed the job that Madeline was doing this year and I thought, ‘I could do that,'” Mayeda said.

Newberg said she would like to see more student awareness of the SFC and the student fee itself. She said students are not aware of the services provided by the fees that they pay for, and that the SFC should better publicize its meetings and educate students about their processes.

“I’m scared students are paying all this money and don’t know where its going,” Newberg said.

Newberg said that the SFC should be more carefully consider how much funding they give each group and be more aware of which groups provide the most for the students.

“Students on the SFC really need to look at the big picture,” Newberg said.

Mayeda said that she would like to create an environment that fosters student services and student well being. She said student voice is not considered by the administration and she would like to make sure that the needs of students and student groups are met in the future.

“Its really important to give student groups a voice on this campus,” Mayeda said.

The student incidental fee is set to raise $35 next year, bringing it up to $202 per student, from $167 this year.

“I’m a little wary of it,” Newberg said.

Newberg said she thinks that the fee will continue to rise and that options other than raising the fee should be considered.

“They could do a lot with less,” Newberg said. “I’m not on the committee so I wouldn’t know.”

According to Mayeda, the fee raise is necessary because of decreased enrollment that requires more money from each individual student. Mayeda voted for the raise because she felt the services provided by student groups were worth it.

“I think I made the wisest decision. We chose to invest in student activities and enrichment,” said Mayeda.

Mayeda said that the raise is a sound investment and not a frivolous expense.

“I couldn’t make sense of students not paying money for these important services,” said Mayeda.

Mayeda said that the fee would continue to rise as enrollment decreases. She said it is unfortunate that each student must continue to pay more, but the services provided by student groups is too important to compromise.