Members of the Council of Representatives gathered Monday evening in LaFortune to approve the allocation of over $250,000 among more than 150 student clubs.Club Coordination Council president J.R. Garcia said his organization faced a difficult task in allocating funds because there were more requests than available resources. He said CCC division representatives gave recommendations for funding, but these recommendations were subject to financial constraints, including the maintenance of a reserve fund."The recommendation is what [representatives] would give clubs in a perfect world," Garcia said. "We like to reserve [money] for appeals and emergency funds."He said this year's reserve fund totals $25,000.Garcia also said that the amount of money to be allocated - the "hardline" number - fell about 6 percent this year, from about $266,300 to about $251,500.According to a copy of the allocation budget obtained by The Observer, allocations changed drastically from last year. Four divisions - cultural, performing arts, social service and special interest - saw overall cuts. The performing arts division was hardest hit, as allocations to its member clubs fell to less than $29,500, a decrease of nearly 41 percent from last year's levels.Meanwhile, academic and athletic clubs saw surges in funding. The athletic division led the way, as its member clubs were allocated over $82,500 - a 21 percent increase over last year.Garcia said the funding changes do not reflect any broad realignment of funding priorities, and that decisions are made on a case-by-case basis."We look at [clubs'] accounting and how they've spent their money in the past," he said. "Clubs that have spent their student activities fees the best [are] who we're looking to give money to."Only a handful of clubs - the Academic Competition Club, the Science-Business Club, the College Republicans, the Flyin' Irish and the Children's Defense Fund - received 100 percent of their request. On average, clubs received about 55 percent of their request.In other COR news:u CPC chairman Jimmy Flaherty nominated sophomore Lauren Hallemann to serve as the CPC's director of publicity. Flaherty said he has full confidence in Hallemann's ability to coordinate the CPC's publicity efforts.The CPC, formerly known as the Student Union Board, is student government's principal programming body. Hallemann's approval passed unanimously.u Student body president Adam Istvan announced that a DVD rental store will be set up in LaFortune's Huddle Mart over the summer."When you guys come back in August, you'll be able to rent DVDs at the Huddle," Istvan said.He said the store, which will not be affiliated with a video rental company, will begin with $7,500 in funding.
