Spring Break
Budget cuts limiting Mosaic, clubs
Claire Taylor
Daily Staff Writer
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What is harder to see, for some, is the effect recent and future budget cuts will have on student life programs on campus, such as the Mosaic Cross Cultural Center.
Mosaic provides programs and services relating to diversity to students on campus, including organizing events, promoting awareness of different causes and assisting student organizations, according to the organization's Web site.
Mosaic Director Hyon Chu Yi said the center's budget is approximately $20,000, with about half of its money spent on operational expenses and the other half going directly to programs and affiliated student organizations, such as the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Allies and the Disabled Students Association.
Yi said Mosaic currently gives up to $400 to each of its 30 affiliated student organizations, but she said with the likelihood of impending budget cuts, "that would have to be drastically cut back because we wouldn't have the funds to accommodate their needs."
Through Mosaic, clubs have access to a copy machine, along with help with recruitment, publicity and training, Yi said.
Yi said there are already a number of things that Mosaic would like to do, but the money just isn't there.
"We're trying to put together ... a speaker series, and we don't have the funds for that," Yi said. "To bring anybody with a recognizable name, you're looking at $10,000 flat."
Yi said SJSU is expecting an estimated 9 percent budget cut in the near future. She said that is the "best scenario."
Potentially, the 9 percent cut may not affect Mosaic in the same way it will affect other departments at SJSU, said Megan Anderson, administrative support coordinator for Mosaic.
The 9 percent cut may be spread out across the board, she said, with some departments receiving a cut larger than 9 percent, depending on the total amount of their budgets. Anderson said Mosaic has such a limited budget that that scenario would bode well for the center.
If the 9 percent is cut from each department, Anderson said, Mosaic will more strongly feel the impact.
"For our department, because we operate on such a small budget, a 9 percent deduction would be really significant," she said.
Anderson said she believes that the education bond, Proposition 55, in Tuesday's election would play a key role in the future of programs like Mosaic.
"If that doesn't pass, then the 9 percent will probably increase," she said. "So (the cuts) could be even more drastic."
At press time, with 52.9 percent of precincts reporting, the results on Proposition 55 were too close to determine if it would pass.
Currently, the only service Mosaic has cut back is its travel program for affiliate student organizations, Yi said.
Anderson said Mosaic previously provided funds for student clubs to travel out-of-state to conferences, but now, because of the campus-wide travel freeze, Mosaic can only pay for students' registration fees and travel within California.
Annie Sayo, a student assistant for Mosaic and member of Bagong Bayan, a Filipino youth and student organization on campus, said she already sees some effects of budget cuts, such as the lack of funding for conference travel.
She also said she fears that budget cuts will threaten outreach programs, such as those provided by Mosaic, and that they will make it that much harder for diversity-related programs to be enacted in the near future.
"Basically, just all services that are outside of the academic curriculum that students need are going to be affected," she said.
Mosaic currently co-sponsors a number of events with other student clubs and departments on campus, such as the upcoming "Tunnel of Oppression" on March 9 and 10 in the Student Union, which is also sponsored by Housing and Counseling Services, Anderson said.
Anderson said the SJSU Disability Resource Center recently donated some funds to Mosaic that allowed the organization to bring on four advocacy interns.
Each of the interns covers a specific area of diversity, visiting clubs related to sexual orientation, Latinos and Chicanos, Asians and Pacific Islanders, and African Americans, Anderson said.
The interns then return to Mosaic and inform the organization about current issues each group is focusing on, she said, giving Mosaic greater insight into these diverse populations and what topics to tackle in upcoming events.
Yi named the new internship program as a potential place for cuts.
She also said theme months, such as African American month, may suffer if the organization has to cut back on services such as creating a calendar of events and printing fliers.
Anderson said Mosaic will do what it can to prevent cutting programs for affiliated student organizations, but she said they could be affected if funding is cut enough that the center's operational costs suffer.
"We try as hard as we can not to cut affiliate stuff," she said. "If anything, we'll cut back more on things that Mosaic specifically sponsors."
Anderson said Mosaic is the only organization on campus, aside from Associated Students, that allocates funds directly to student clubs.
