The proposed Baylands festival is too ambitious and will consume too much of the budget that should be used on other projects. Moreover, the arguments are getting far too personal.

The initial proposal for the festival asked for $25,000 with $13,000 set aside for security costs. This budget is far too much, especially for a festival that is brand new.

What may have contributed to the Baylands excessive funding is DASB President Julia Malakiman’s personal stake in the event.

She proposed the event and has pushed heavily for the event to receive funding. Recently, she even let her personal stake in the event affect her professionalism in a DASB Senate meeting.

On April 22, the DASB senate met to discuss the Baylands festival, which is set to take place Saturday, June 13. Senate members Pedro Alberto Enriquez and Mina Alsan proposed a reduction of festival funds from $20,000 to $7,935, but the proposal did not pass.

Two hours into the discussion, Enriquez stood before the senate and public, sharing the details of his financial troubles and how much this money could mean to struggling students in on-campus clubs like himself.

Malakiman responded to this comment by saying, “Pedro, I’m sorry about your situation, that’s unfortunate. I don’t know if you’re trying to say you want this $20,000 to go to you or something.”

This outburst shows Malakiman’s personal stake in the festival has clouded her judgment and caused her to act unprofessionally toward the other senators.

A better approach would be to spend less money on the festival, reduce its size for this year and see if students and community members are interested in attending a music festival at De Anza.

If people do attend, then next year the DASB Senate can approve an appropriate budget based on this year’s festival.

In the meantime, the money saved by reducing the size of the festival could be put toward current DASB projects. One of the goals of the festival is to promote sustainability, so the saved funds could go to toward the environmental sustainability committee or improving the bike program.

If the senate scales back the plans for the festival and it fails to meet its new goals, then far less money will have been lost.

Caution is the best approach for this festival. There is very little to be gained by putting $20,000 toward the Baylands festival, but a whole lot to be lost.

Malakiman needs to let go of her personal stake in the festival, reduce its size for the first year, and start acting professionally.