ASUSU approves band funding
Members of the ASUSU Executive Council passed two pieces of legislation Tuesday that would provide support to fund the Aggie marching band and commence a one-day fall break for students.
Both resolutions will be presented to members of Utah State University’s administration during the annual Staters Council Nov. 7.
Because of nearly depleted funds, several of the 52 members of the Aggie Marching Band who were present at the meeting spoke to the council, expressing the need for support from the student government to receive additional funding.
“There’s a lot of school spirit going into [the band] and we can do a lot of great things, but we need the support,” Ben Thatcher, a freshman member of the band, said.
The band has received budget cuts for the past 10 years and is asking for $250,000 of one-time money for the 2006 academic school year from the university administration. This will pay for the cost of new uniforms, instrument replacements and repairs, travel costs and other similar needs, Robert Houghton, 2005 Aggie marching band president, said.
“That one-time money needs to happen now,” Houghton said. “We are out of resources; we are truly scraping at the bottom of the barrel.”
Although members of the band do not expect the council to provide them with any money, they do hope that with its support, the administration will be able to provide the funding they need.
Each year, the Aggie marching band divides their $10,000 fund among five other USU bands, Houghton said. This money is provided by the music department annually.
The band has been forced to use their uniform fund of $68,000 since 1996 to make up for recent budget cuts. Now that this fund is almost completely depleted, Houghton said.
“What we would like is to have President Albrecht talk to our band council,” Houghton said.
Currently, there are 100 members of the Aggie marching band. In a recent survey performed among six other marching bands in the Western Athletic Conference, the results showed that USU’s marching band receives the least amount of funding out of all the other bands, Houghton said.
“We as a body need to realize that without the band here, it could hurt the entire music program,” Rosie Strong, Athletics vice president, said.
Houghton also recognized that the university has experienced budget cuts in many different programs throughout the campus and just hopes the administration will be able to help them wherever possible.
“All of our time is invested in this school and I would really appreciate it if [the council] would support us,” band member Kelsie Radulovic said.
In other business, the council also approved legislation to provide a one-day fall break to coincide with the Utah Education Association annual break.
Each university in Utah is required to have at least 75 academic school days each semester. Currently, there are 76 academic school days for fall semester at USU, Education Senator Stacy Brown said when she presented the legislation to the council.
The council hopes this change will go into effect for the 2006-07 academic school year.
Currently, USU is the only public school in Utah that does not have a fall break, Brown said.
-mmackay@cc.usu.edu