Xitlaly Martinez
DASG Finance Committee Advisor Dennis Shannakian answers a prospective intern's question in the Student Council Chambers on Monday Oct. 14.
All five voting members on the De Anza Student Government Finance Committee voted in favor of funding DA Developers Hackathon to host De Anza Hacks 3.0 with an extra $2,000 on Monday, Oct. 14 in the Student Council Chambers.
Registration for the event closed the night these extra funds were approved, with over 250 students expected to have registered — nearly 100 more students than Hackathon 2.5 in the spring quarter.
“We’re only requesting money for two more items,” DASG Finance Committee Chair Aditya Sharma, 18, an electrical engineering major. “$1,000 for food and $1,000 for promotional items.”
De Anza Hacks 2.5 spent $2,489.86 of their $2,750 2023-2024 budget and saw 140 participants, per the De Anza Student Account Income Statements and DA Developers Hackathon’s Special Allocation request presentation.
“A couple of people didn’t get shirts during (De Anza Hacks) 2.5,” DASG Chair of Student Rights and Equity Katia Bravo, 19, a computer science and math major, said. Bravo also serves on De Anza Hacks’s Marketing and Outreach Committee. “It’s a hackathon tradition that (every time,) we have a different shirt design.”
Custom t-shirts are estimated to cost around seven dollars apiece from ooShirts, Sharma said. In total, Sharma estimated that the event will cost a maximum of $4,500.
Because DA Developers Hackathon is a program on campus, not a club, it requests funds from the DASG Finance Committee instead of the Inter Club Council.
“Before, (DA Developers Hackathon) used to be a coalition of clubs,” Bravo said. “This year, we changed it to be a program affiliated with the computer science and information systems department … if we were (still) a combination of clubs, there would be funding issues.”
The committee also approved the 2024-2025 Budget Guiding Principles that has been on the two latest agendas. The document is integral for programs to consider when requesting funds and assures programs that receive funding benefit De Anza College students.
“I liked learning about the hackathon,” Christopher Ghee, 18, an economics major and prospective finance intern said. “(It was a decision) that was actively being made (and) would impact students on campus … we’re literally approving $2,000 right here, right now.”
The committee meets Mondays at 4 p.m. in the Student Council Chambers within the Hinson Campus Center and the meetings are accessible over Zoom. Agenda items are made public and the community is welcome to attend.