The 2002-2003 budget proposals for De Anza programs and organizations were addressed at last Wednesday’s De Anza Associated Student Body meeting, where over 100 DASB senators, students and faculty filled the Student Council Chambers. Before budget deliberations began among the Senate, the floor was open for comments from the public.

“De Anza … is a college of higher learning. How can we learn if we don’t have the tools to learn?” asked student Ali Rahnoma.

He addressed the room to urge an equal allotment of the funding. “I don’t like the budget … we need to tell the DASB it’s not right.”

Many of the audience members who spoke seemed to echo similar sentiments, advising on the importance of the various programs and requested the Senate find a way to allocate the requested amounts to these programs, as they reflect upon De Anza as whole.

Outreach Specialist Gene Murden said “People don’t really [understand] that … this is Outreach right here, it’s us, it’s everybody. There has to be a beginning somewhere, and that’s us.”

Outreach is a program that recruits new students by arranging campus tours for high school and other prospective students.

“We need to propose a budget that fits everyone. We can’t just cut [from] one program to allocate [the funding] to another program, we need to spread it out equally,” Rahnoma said.

Some also spoke of how programs, such as SLAMS and S.T.A.R.S., affected their lives. Student James Harris-Williams said, “I don’t know where I’d be right now [without the program’s help].”

“This is your chance to change history here at De Anza College,” said dance instructor Janet Shaw.

Senator Christina Smith said, “We are competent with our spending, so we should be competent with our cutting.”

The meeting lasted from 3:40 p.m. until 11:45 p.m., but only the first step of the budget approval process, voting on pulling funds from each section of the proposal, was completed.

The next step, which entails the reallocation of the funds that were cut, will take place on Feb. 20. The budget will not be officially passed by the DASB until the second vote at the Feb. 27 meeting. See next week’s issue of La Voz for updated information.