Belated New Year's Resolution: Let's Get Fiscal!
Op-Ed
by Dennis Kim
Issue date: 2/2/09 Section: Opinion
Did you know the current administration of CASA was voted in by TEN PERCENT of the student population? Pretty dismal voter turnout, don't you think? Then again, you might be asking yourself, "What is CASA?" If you are one of the 90% who did not vote in the Student Government elections, don't know what CASA is, or you want a Student Government that fights for you and your interests on the important issues confronting the campus, read on.
The Campus Association for Student Activities (CASA) is the Student Government at Lehman of which most students know nothing. The reason for this is twofold: the members of CASA make no effort to reach out to the students, and the students too make no effort to involve themselves in the decision-making process. But in all fairness, blaming the students for their supposed "apathy" when CASA has not made its presence felt on the campus is a cop out.
CASA's failure to communicate with the students has left it in a position of little credibility or even recognition as the Student Government on campus. It's simple: if you do not talk to the students, you cannot possibly be representing them properly. To date, we don't KNOW what the students want and we don't KNOW what the students' concerns, issues, and problems are. Sure, some members may have an inkling of what keeps students awake at night (tuition raises affect us too), but it is no substitute for reaching out to the students who are counting on Student Government to represent them in regards to increasingly austere budget cuts to CUNY, the subsequent fallout of rising tuition costs, and other high-stakes matters affecting all Lehman students.
Using the likewise silence from the Lehman College community as an excuse, the lack of public scrutiny of CASA's activities has fostered an environment of fiscal recklessness amongst its members. A sort of macabre game is played where a mad dash to broke is encouraged before the end of the fiscal year when the remaining money is returned to the Lehman College Association. Sure, it is sometimes fun to watch a chicken run without its head, but CASA is armed with some serious money, and its tendency to send large amounts of it off with little direction is dangerous and harmful to the students.
Although this may surprise you, CASA is given a budget every year derived from your student activity fees, $115,751 for the 2008-2009 fiscal year alone. Armed with your money, CASA has slashed and burned this $115,751 budget down to $13,000 for the spring semester. Yes, you read right. This impressive six-figure sum of nearly 120K has been squandered to its teens. Can anybody make the argument that the campus is better for it? By subtracting the necessary encumbrances of the Senior Ball and Club Fair at $25,000 and $10,000, respectively, the $48,138.80 left in the CASA budget is actually a mere $13,138.80. But to be fair, some of this year's budget was already encumbered for projects from last year's CASA. An example of this is the $10,750.66 that was spent on the new lounge furniture in the Shuster Hall lobby. Shelling out more than $10,000 of student money for so-called "custom made" furniture that is comparable to the furniture found in the Student Life Building is unacceptable. And since the college administration in Shuster has shown itself to beget a dozen pieces of furniture for nearly $11,000, the bidding process must become more transparent to include student critique and input.
As a student and CASA member, I will continue to listen to you and push for spending that helps students. I have spent the fall semester challenging my CASA colleagues to change their ideas, speak with the students, and most importantly, to move away from the fallacy that the role of Student Government is solely a programming board. With due alacrity, it is time for CASA to listen to the discontent of students and have their concerns addressed to the college administration in Shuster and the government in Albany. Together, with a group of like-minded students, we can oppose the rising tuition, decry the proposed TAP cuts, find solutions to the poor support and services offered to us, and work for a stronger institution.
Yes, the damage done is real, but the fantasy that CASA had about getting away with it is wishful thinking. More brazenly, some members of CASA hope you were too busy last semester to notice any of this and will try to slip you the same kool-aid this semester. Remember that student elections are in May. You can let them know that playtime is over.
Update: Before the publication of this article, The Meridian contacted CASA President Jose Tavarez on January 26 to ask for a comment regarding the $13,000 balance. According to Kim, a new C.A.S.A. budget was then presented in a meeting held on January 28th. $11,128 was returned to the budget from freed up encumbrances, and the group decided that Club Fair's cost will now be taken from the Club Board budget. Kim is an upper-sophomore majoring in political science and is the Campus Facilities Officer of C.A.S.A. Email: dennis.sj.kim@gmail.com
The Campus Association for Student Activities (CASA) is the Student Government at Lehman of which most students know nothing. The reason for this is twofold: the members of CASA make no effort to reach out to the students, and the students too make no effort to involve themselves in the decision-making process. But in all fairness, blaming the students for their supposed "apathy" when CASA has not made its presence felt on the campus is a cop out.
CASA's failure to communicate with the students has left it in a position of little credibility or even recognition as the Student Government on campus. It's simple: if you do not talk to the students, you cannot possibly be representing them properly. To date, we don't KNOW what the students want and we don't KNOW what the students' concerns, issues, and problems are. Sure, some members may have an inkling of what keeps students awake at night (tuition raises affect us too), but it is no substitute for reaching out to the students who are counting on Student Government to represent them in regards to increasingly austere budget cuts to CUNY, the subsequent fallout of rising tuition costs, and other high-stakes matters affecting all Lehman students.
Using the likewise silence from the Lehman College community as an excuse, the lack of public scrutiny of CASA's activities has fostered an environment of fiscal recklessness amongst its members. A sort of macabre game is played where a mad dash to broke is encouraged before the end of the fiscal year when the remaining money is returned to the Lehman College Association. Sure, it is sometimes fun to watch a chicken run without its head, but CASA is armed with some serious money, and its tendency to send large amounts of it off with little direction is dangerous and harmful to the students.
Although this may surprise you, CASA is given a budget every year derived from your student activity fees, $115,751 for the 2008-2009 fiscal year alone. Armed with your money, CASA has slashed and burned this $115,751 budget down to $13,000 for the spring semester. Yes, you read right. This impressive six-figure sum of nearly 120K has been squandered to its teens. Can anybody make the argument that the campus is better for it? By subtracting the necessary encumbrances of the Senior Ball and Club Fair at $25,000 and $10,000, respectively, the $48,138.80 left in the CASA budget is actually a mere $13,138.80. But to be fair, some of this year's budget was already encumbered for projects from last year's CASA. An example of this is the $10,750.66 that was spent on the new lounge furniture in the Shuster Hall lobby. Shelling out more than $10,000 of student money for so-called "custom made" furniture that is comparable to the furniture found in the Student Life Building is unacceptable. And since the college administration in Shuster has shown itself to beget a dozen pieces of furniture for nearly $11,000, the bidding process must become more transparent to include student critique and input.
As a student and CASA member, I will continue to listen to you and push for spending that helps students. I have spent the fall semester challenging my CASA colleagues to change their ideas, speak with the students, and most importantly, to move away from the fallacy that the role of Student Government is solely a programming board. With due alacrity, it is time for CASA to listen to the discontent of students and have their concerns addressed to the college administration in Shuster and the government in Albany. Together, with a group of like-minded students, we can oppose the rising tuition, decry the proposed TAP cuts, find solutions to the poor support and services offered to us, and work for a stronger institution.
Yes, the damage done is real, but the fantasy that CASA had about getting away with it is wishful thinking. More brazenly, some members of CASA hope you were too busy last semester to notice any of this and will try to slip you the same kool-aid this semester. Remember that student elections are in May. You can let them know that playtime is over.
Update: Before the publication of this article, The Meridian contacted CASA President Jose Tavarez on January 26 to ask for a comment regarding the $13,000 balance. According to Kim, a new C.A.S.A. budget was then presented in a meeting held on January 28th. $11,128 was returned to the budget from freed up encumbrances, and the group decided that Club Fair's cost will now be taken from the Club Board budget. Kim is an upper-sophomore majoring in political science and is the Campus Facilities Officer of C.A.S.A. Email: dennis.sj.kim@gmail.com
Viewing Comments 1 - 9 of 14
JJAVIER
Jorge Javier
posted 2/02/09 @ 9:14 PM EST
Dearest Mr. D.S.J.K.,
I will respond to your Op-Ed by simply correcting the several discrepancies you mentioned.
Yes, our administration was voted in by 10% of the Lehman College student body. (Continued…)
Briana Urbina
posted 2/05/09 @ 3:35 PM EST
I should not have been surprised by the audaciously bitter rant of Dennis Kim. Honestly, as a CASA alum I have only two regrets. The first regret is the confession that I wasn't able to achieve all of the goals I had for my office, last semester. (Continued…)
anonymous
posted 2/07/09 @ 3:07 PM EST
Perhaps, when it came to Dennis' impeachment vote, Ms. Urbina, was not counted correctly because she abstained.
Jeffrey Valdez of CASA
to Carlos, Francisco, Sherly, jose, aman. (Continued…)
Anonymous
posted 2/07/09 @ 4:22 PM EST
It's funny that Brianna could abstain in good conscience when she admits that "there is no doubt as to the prodigious good that an event on Darfur offers our students. (Continued…)
Concerned and Fed Up
posted 2/07/09 @ 4:46 PM EST
This is EXACTLY what our administrators want from us: an entertaining game of "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better", "My Horse Is Bigger Than Your Horse", and the classic "Anything and Everything You Say Can and Will Be Used Against You When You Least Expect It" all rolled into one pitiful brawl of words. (Continued…)
Dennis S.J. Kim
posted 2/08/09 @ 12:28 PM EST
Dear Brianna,
If you think advocating for student rights and dissenting to the majority for their lack of accountability are grounds for impeachment, you are sadly mistaken. (Continued…)
A Concerned Student
posted 2/08/09 @ 2:33 PM EST
I am pleased to see all the hard work that Dennis has done advocating for us students. Despite the mistakes that have been made in the past, we can still turn things around if we all work together to benefit Lehman. (Continued…)
trueheart
posted 2/08/09 @ 7:59 PM EST
I found it interesting that the casa alum didn't make any suggestion to make campus life better just an outright impeachment of mr. kim. I noticed casa saying the only way they got their votes were to plague the students on those 3 days of election. (Continued…)
A. Kelly
posted 2/11/09 @ 12:51 PM EST
I am the former financial planner 2003-2004 for the Campus Association for Student Activities, and I must say it is unfair to the officers who are currently running CASA to insinuate that they have something to hide concerning budgetary spending. (Continued…)
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