Paying officials rejects purpose of activity fees

Running a student organization on UNC's campus is a thankless job. I know firsthand, albeit 11 years ago, when I was a leader of the UNC College Republicans.

During that time I served one year in UNC's Student Congress.

Simply put, students should not receive reimbursement for working on student organization-related activities.

Student fees should go for student activities and programming - not salaries or stipends for members of Congress who administer those funds. Period.

The Student Code states that student fees "should be used primarily for the funding of programs, services, and events of benefit to the student body at large" (Title V, Article II, Section 201 Primary Use).

Congress is by and large an administrative body. Unlike groups such the Black Student Movement, Carolina Students for Life, SURGE, GLBTSA or the College Republicans, Congress does not engage in programs with an educational or cultural end.

Each year, controversy arises over the lack or surplus of funds given to organizations on campus. These are strictly for programming and activity-related requests. Many student leaders, be they conservative or liberal, put in countless hours to ensure their programs serve to further their campus message. And they have one thing in common.

They do it to better the community that is UNC and don't receive payment for it. They derive satisfaction from staging an event that reaches a large campus audience.

Student Congress has impressed upon student organizations that students should not receive compensation for organization-related activities.

Congress' leaders should show commitment to the view the body imposes on other groups and should be principled enough to not accept compensation themselves.

Rejecting the referendum today will ensure that.

If Student Congress faces an ever-increasing administrative workload, it should look to become more efficient, to use technological time-saving tools or to find ways of spreading out the tasks among its membership.

It should not, however, look to student fees that are given to the body in good faith as the solution.

Appropriating money for nonprogram-related activities further restricts the amount of funds available for student organizations. It also creates the risk of a slippery slope. If Congress is allowed this option of work-related reimbursement, it will at some point find a way into the system and then become entrenched.

It could very well become the norm that all student organizations would pay their leadership.

While Congress might not reimburse its members at present, it is important to ensure for the long-term that student fees meet their intended purpose - to culturally enrich and intellectually enhance the climate at Carolina.

Student Congress, as the representative body that oversees all students and their organizations, should set a higher standard of excellence for all organizations to follow.

Members and leaders of Congress should view themselves in the same context as leaders in any other student group.

Money students put into the fee system should be used with good faith and toward their intended purpose: supporting the intellectual climate at the University.

Contact Joey Stansbury, former member of Student Congress, at jstansbury@popecenter.org.