VSA allocates discretionary funds for Winterfest

Lauren Sutherland Assistant News Editor

On Sunday, Feb. 5, the Vassar Student Association (VSA) passed a motion made by VSA Secretary Laureen Cantwell ’06 to allocate $200 of discretionary funding to the the Special Events Committee of Winterfest 2006, which will establish a budget number and account for the committee. Winterfest is an event held on the College campus and attended by the Arlington community.
According to the proposal submitted by Cantwell, who serves as a VSA liaison to the Winterfest Committee, the majority of discretionary funding granted by the VSA will be put towards the manufacture and distribution of merchandise for the event. Cantwell designed a 22 oz. stadium cup that will be sold at the festival, and profits amassed from sales will be redeposited into the account for future use.

“The management of the account will be left primarily up to the Special Events Committee,” explained Cantwell. “The idea is that the money will be used for merchandise, things that will generate an inflow of cash for the Committee and allow the account funds to accrue.”

Cantwell noted that funds drawn from the account would most likely not be used to purchase items such as T-shirts for event volunteers, food, and other expenses already covered by the budget allotted by the Arlington Business Improvement District Committee (ABIDC).

VSA council grants discretionary funding to certain committees and organizations on a case-by-case basis; applications are submitted to the Council and are either approved or rejected by its members based on a vote.

“Discretionary funding is generally granted to individual, specific requests that demonstrate a legitimate need for funding,” said VSA Treasurer David Applbaum ’06. “For instance, I believe a portion of discretionary funding went towards the building of Mathew’s Bean.” Applbaum added that the Council rarely taps this resource. Discretionary funds have only been allocated on one other occasion during the 2005-2006 school year, and not at all the year before, according to Applbaum.

When a committee or group is given a budget account number, they are authorized by the VSA to deposit funds into the Vassar account system, the management of which is overseen by the VSA treasury. Once an account is established, the spending habits of the group are subjected to bureaucratic monitoring and must be approved by Applbaum. The Founder’s Day Committee is the only other special events committee that has a VSA account.

Although decisions regarding how to spend the money from the newly created account will ultimately need to receive VSA authorization, the funds will be budgeted by student members of the Winterfest Committee.

“I want the account to be something that the Vassar students control,” said Cantwell. “Winterfest receives most of its funding from the ABIDC, and there are about 35 to 40 organizations that participate, so this would serve as something extra to contribute to the overall success of the event as well as give the students some financial autonomy.”
Winterfest was held for the first time in February 2005, and is the third and last in a series of annual festivals geared towards uniting the Vassar and Arlington communities.

The long-established Arlington Street Fair is held in the fall, followed by the Holiday Festival in December. Winterfest, which will be held on Feb. 25 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in both the Walker Field House and Ballentine Field, will feature indoor and outdoor events and games, a performance stage, a bonfire, and various tables at which college and local organizations will be stationed.

The majority of financing for the Arlington Street Fair, the Holiday Festival, and Winterfest falls to the ABIDC. Consequently, their respective budgets must be stringently managed. The addition of Winterfest has, according to Cantwell, most likely further attenuated an already limited budget.
“The first year Winterfest was held, they ended up overspending,” said Cantwell. “This year the Committee has a very strict budget to work with, and I really think that a little support from the VSA could help the event to become a great and continued success.”