Blanket tax review committee presents recommendations

By Andrew Ta     1/30/13 6:00pm

The Student Association Blanket Tax Committee aims to deliver recommendations to campus organizations, but some disagree with how the process was carried out. On Jan. 28, the committee presented its report to the Student Senate in an attempt to review the financial figures for major organizations on campus and ensure blanket tax money was being properly used to serve Rice students, committee member Krish Ramineni said.

Of the 12 organizations presented to the Senate, KTRU, the KTRU Emergency Fund, RSVP and the Honor Council were recommended for further review, according to SA Treasurer Hersh Agrawal.

"Everyone was very transparent and good about providing documents, what the rollover was, etc.," Agrawal said. "[The recommendation was in] no way a criticism, but there were gaps in the fiscal notes they provided, or [we] had questions on specific expenditures or amounts. Our goal is to fill in those gaps. We don't anticipate recommending a downgrade or chang[ing] what recommendations we have made. We want to complete our recommendation so that all info is present for the next committee."

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The SA website states that in the 2012-13 school year, there were 13 blanket tax recipients, each receiving between 50 cents and $25 from each Rice student per year. According to Ramineni, a Will Rice College freshman, the blanket tax, funded by student tuition, affects all Rice students to some degree.

"Certain portions of their tuition, whether it's $2 or $20, is taken from each student to fund these organizations," Ramineni said. "Our goal was to ensure that the purpose of each organization was in the best interest of all students here at Rice. We had to dig into the specifics and confirm that no money was being wasted."

According to Agrawal, the role of the Blanket Tax Committee is to be objective in its analysis.

"One of [the Blanket Tax Committee's] main things is not to analyze organizations subjectively," Agrawal said. "We're not going to say [whether] KTRU is liked by students or [whether] students enjoy Sammy's Picnic or [Rice Program Council's] Esperanza. We're going to stay objective. For example, when we say RPC deserves an increase, we do so because of their [events'] increased attendance."

At the presentation, Duncan College sophomore Brian Baran said he disagreed with how the committee went about making its recommendations.

"There's supposed to be separation between the initial review and the deeper investigation, but that separation didn't occur," Baran, a Thresher copy editor, said in an interview. "Instead, they combined the standing and contingency committees, contrary to what's written in the bylaws."

Baran said he felt the process was not carried out in accordance with the letter or spirit of the procedures.

"The committee took what should be a case-by-case process of analyzing separately each blanket tax organization's use of blanket tax funds and instead applied a set of overarching criteria, ignoring the different purposes each organization has," Baran said. "The committee did not have the authority to create these criteria; that power rests with the elected Student Senate."

Brown College freshman Eric Yin said he did not know about the blanket tax but that he would support it only if certain organizations received his money.

"What blanket tax?" Yin said. "If it goes toward organizations like the SA, RPC or Thresher that provide services to students, I'm totally in support of [it]."

Agrawal said he liked the blanket tax system because it allows students to signify to the Rice administration what is important to the undergraduate community.

"I think it's a good system," Agrawal said. "I really do like it. If there's a need, it provides a different way to fulfill that need. [The Rice Endowment for Sustainable Energy Technology] is an example of that. It shows students care. Because [the] administration hadn't taken that step, students took that step and said, 'We'll take the tuition increase because we care.' But now, [the] administration is paying attention. [Facilities Engineering and Planning] is picking up projects now and recognizing that this is a correction that can be made."

According to Agrawal, organizations like RESET are significant in effecting long-term change in university policy.

"The blanket tax in RESET's case is the middle step to the administration that there are environmental needs that students want," Agrawal said. "It's a slow transition, but it's a transition that will occur. So perhaps RESET [will be gone in] 20 years, or maybe 5 years, whenever [the] administration takes over. It'll push them. If we don't do anything, [the] administration won't recognize the needs. It's nicer to show results and say, '[So-and-so] is actually going to save so much in the next few years.'"

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