Dear Arrow Editorial Staff and Student Body,

The Arrow's February 1st publication of "SGA setting new budget for 2012" raises several points that I feel are my duty as Treasurer to address.

First and foremost, our 2012 fiscal year budget is finalized; in fact, it has been since August during executive training. However, the executive board by no means is in charge of shaping the entire budget; Senate plays a large role and set the line items last April.

Basically, how our budget works is that a set percentage of student fees per credit hour is allocated towards Student Government. The amount taken from each student is minimal, but this does allow us to operate as the ever important student voice and fund many essential student activities across the campus. The fee money collected from the total student population in 2011 was $307,000. This funding is then split up between line items that are part of our budget year after year. Senate is the entity that decides every April what percentage of the budget should go towards each account.

Of that $307,000, Student Government's executive account received 31.5% this year, or $96,705. And although some of this funding is used for "web design, student wages...postage, printing, prizes and awards, catering..." as an earlier Arrow article stated, the majority of this fund ($66,059) goes towards two campus life workers who fulfill more that just a Student Government role in the office. The previous Arrow article attempts to portray the executive account as a personal fund for Student Government's own activities. This charge could not be further from the truth, as the remainder of these dollars is dedicated to improving the student body's experience at Southeast. Among the projects funded by this account are the aforementioned ice cream social (the annual Ice Cream Pig-Out), the co-sponsorship of the River Campus's "Pajama Game" with the President's office, and the numerous town halls and forums to gather student opinions.

The other 68.5%, or $210,295, is allocated towards a number of different line items. First and largest is the Student Activities Council, which this year received 35.5% ($108,985) of the budget. Next is the Student Organizations Account (budgeted $27,660.70), which is a fund designated for registered student organizations to request funding from for on-campus events that are open and free to all students. The Discretionary Fund (budgeted $24,989.80) is a means for student organizations, individual students, or anyone else with a student-driven demand to request funding for a variety of events, ideas, and conference. Finally, W.I.N.G.S. receives 6.51%, Club Sports receives 4.0%, Homecoming receives 3.09%, and Student Communications receives 0.50% of the budget. Graduate students receive a refund of their student fees at 1.75% of the budget. Since Student Government does not represent graduate students nor fund any of their activities, this reimbursement was put into place a number of years ago.

The amount for the proposed Innovation project also should be mentioned. Although last week's article headlined with, "Student government setting aside $50,000 for a student innovation project," this statement was pulled out of context. In fact, the actual amount has not yet been set but will not even begin to approach the published amount. The Student Issues committee will continue to discuss the initiative and will designate appropriate dollars accordingly.

I thank the Arrow for its desire to keep the student body informed of Student Government's budget but felt that these inaccuracies needed to be addressed. Student Government remains firmly committed to the responsible distribution of student fees. Any questions or concerns about our budget can be directed to me at elhargis1s@semo.edu.

Emilee Hargis

SGA Treasurer