Four Front discusses new multicultural fee
Published Jan. 26, 2007
Four Front, the umbrella organization for most minority organizations on campus, held its first meeting of the semester on Tuesday night, but it started off with some confusion.
The main issue of discussion was the multicultural student fee and how the person in charge of the initiative has been missing in action.
The fee, proposed through a Missouri Students Association bill, would generate somewhere between $75,000-$80,000 for multicultural student organizations.
According to the bill, the fee is for the good of the entire student population. It would "establish a multicultural/diversity student fee to facilitate cooperation between underrepresented students for the benefit of the entire undergraduate population."
Student Fee Review Committee Chairwoman Marianne Clark, who did not attend the meeting, said her committee and the MSA Senate had approved the fee, but it has yet to be presented to the Board of Curators.
The fee would amount to $3.19 per student per semester but would be a reallocation of existing fees, not a new charge.
The discussion at the meeting centered on the process of implementing the fee, which was still uncertain to them.
"We have to pick up the pace," MSA Operations Chairman Jonathan Mays said.
Mays said the process will be a careful balance between involving people and meeting deadlines.
At the meeting, Mays said his attempts to contact Clark in the past week and a half have proven unsuccessful.
Clark said she was allowing him and other students involved in the process to get adjusted to the new semester before beginning discussion.
At the meeting, Mays recommended the organizations select officers for a committee that would be formed to allocate the funds that would form the fee.
Clark said a committee will be formed but not until closer to the end of the semester since it would not likely enact any measures until next semester.
The committee would consist of two members from each Four Front organization plus five additional Four Front members.
According to the bill, Four Front is a key organization working for the fee's implementation.
"Four Front serves as an umbrella organization to all minority groups on campus and their mission and purpose are directly aligned with the purpose of this fee," the bill states.
Clark's advice to the organizations in the short-term is to begin to establish what amount of funding they want to push for in the committee.
"They need to have a general ballpark so they know," she said.
Another topic for discussion was the Brady Commons construction. Although changes have been made to the plans, MSA President Rachel Anderson assured the council that the student voice is not being ignored.
"They're keeping everything that was actually voted on," she said.