The Student Budget Committee is a seven-member WSA committee which allocates and monitors the spending of approximately $425,000 raised through the College Body Tax. Every year over one hundred and eighty undergraduate student groups apply for these funds to sponsor a great variety of events and activities.

The SBC's Funds are divided into the Speaker Fund and Supplemental Funds. The Speaker Fund Budget is approximately $65,000 for the year and Supplemental Funds are set at $10,000. These funds are allocated at our weekly meetings held on Mondays at 4:15PM in the WSA office. Feel free to come by and see us. For further information, consult the WSA Handbook or the SBC Criteria; both of which are available in the WSA office located at 190 High Street.

• Always try to talk a speaker down. Never accept their first price. Explain that you're a student group and your funds are limited. This will usually knock a little bit off the price and make it easier to get funds from SBC. REMEMBER, there is a TWO WEEK DEADLINE for any Speaker Fund request.

• Always seek co-sponsorship from departments or other organizations that are interested in the speaker or performer that you're bringing to campus.

• Whenever you charge for an event, and there's a revenue expectation, all the funds collected at the door must be returned to Carrie at the WSA Office. If you make more money then we gave you for your event, the remaining funds go into your profit account, which you can use for whatever you wish. Thus, if you throw events that are low-in-cost and high-in-profit, you can make extra funds for your organization.

• If you ever have problems dealing with agents or contacts, don't hesitate to contact Carrie MacDermott. She is very knowledgeable about the problems you may encounter.

E-mail Kwame with any questions or inquires you have about the SBC process. Responses will be posted in this column so check back often.