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The Student Union Finance Board recently announced in its Treasurer Manual that it now has the discretion to subsidize transportation and lodging costs for student-run clubs. According to the Manual, transportation subsidies are available to both competitive and non-competitive clubs, while lodging subsidies are only available to competitive clubs.

I promised that I would try my best to have some transportation and lodging funded if I get elected, said Union Treasurer Choon Woo Ha 07. This would create more cost-effective events and opportunities for clubs.

According to the new policy, a maximum of $0.10 per mile, per head, or per gallon may be granted in regards to transportation costs, and a $10 per person per night subsidy in regards to lodging expenses. These funds can only be requested during Early and Regular Marathon as opposed to weekly STEP meetings, and costs are to be confirmed by the use of map services such as Google Maps and MapQuest to determine the most efficient route possible. Air costs, according to the Manual, air travel will be subsidized only if it is proven to be more cost-effective than ground transportation.

Fundraising on campus is difficult, said Brandeis Fencing Captain Max Cooper 08. Anything that will help fund important trips or competition that the club needs to do is a good thing.

One other new restriction written in the Manual was that the F-Board will no longer pay for retreats undertaken by student groups. This decision includes retreats from the Student Union and religious groups. Its a balance thing retreats are organizationally internal and they dont necessarily benefit the whole campus as a whole like the SAF is supposed to do, said Student Union Director of Communications Brian Paternostro 07.

Jeremy Shuman, a member of the F-Board and the Student Sexuality Information Service (SSIS), which traditionally has retreats, said I wish that F-Board paid for retreats [,] [but] I see the logic of why we dontbecause we have limited funding. Shuman added that my personal feeling was that I would have wanted to fund retreats, but I wouldnt block consensus because they had sound logic. Groups that I think have good reasons to have retreats are big groups that do a lot of programming like Student Events, religious groups should have it, and SSIS should have it, and I hope they find sources so they can do that.

This F-Board has decided that giving money to transportation and lodging would foster more student activity and a better experience for club members, said Paternostro. As what [was] chanted during the SAF campaign [,] a yes vote meant more money for more clubs;

what you are seeing is the product now in action.