The ASSU Undergraduate Senate last night selected which student groups to include on the special-fees ballot this spring. The meeting was attended by representatives from the groups, many of whom raised concerns about large cuts to their groups’ operating budgets.

The Appropriations Committee, which met with student groups last weekend to review their budget requests, provided recommendations to the senators. The Senate is trying to reduce students’ special fees in hopes of avoiding a repeat of this year’s special-fees crisis, which was caused by high rates of refund requests from students. This year’s targeted reduction follows on the heels of general reforms to the special-fees system passed by the Senate during the last several weeks.

ASSU Financial Manager Kyle Alisharan, Class of ’03, emphasized the importance of passing as many of the recommended cuts as possible.

“Currently, the fee is around $90 per quarter,” Alisharan said. “Even with these changes, it’s still coming to $80 per quarter.”

Many of the budget cuts that were passed were made in areas like transportation costs, honoraria and officer salaries.

The club sports program, which has the highest budget of any of the special-fees groups, faces sizable cuts to its proposed budget, pending consideration by the Graduate Student Council on its status as a joint group, which would make it eligible for funding from the graduate community. Group representatives said the cuts could potentially limit travel for club sports teams.

“In order for club sports to be viable, we need to travel and compete against other teams,” said senior Jose Guevara, the group’s president.

The Senate also voted not to place some student groups on the ballot, including a large proportion of performing arts groups and student publications. These groups were deemed to have fallen outside the Undergraduate Senate’s Declared Statement of Purpose for Special-Fees.

“Given what we have established as general guidelines under the Statement of Purpose, the Committee felt that some of the groups did not benefit enough of the campus to be included on the ballot,” said Committee Chair Lindsey Love, a sophomore.

Ivan Ortiz is a coordinator of the Barrio Assistance group, whose members tutor disadvantaged students from surrounding areas. Ortiz pleaded with the Senate not to exclude his group from the special-fees vote.

“To say that Barrio Assistance does not impact Stanford students would not be accurate at all,” he said. “Without that money, our program would not be able to function.”

After a lengthy debate, the Senate voted not to put Barrio Assistance on this year’s ballot. Other groups that faced a similar decision include the a cappella group Everyday People, the Stanford Jazz Orchestra and Masque Magazine, a publication for queer expression.

These groups can petition to be added to the ballot by collecting signatures from 15 percent of the student body. Otherwise, they can apply for funds from the ASSU’s more restrictive general-fees program.

Nonetheless, members of the Senate said they were optimistic about the outcome of the meeting.

“The discussion we had tonight was really valuable,” said Senate Chair Josh Shipp, a junior. “It was good because community input was included.”

Thinking long-term, he suggested that the University could give more assistance in the funding of student groups.

“Students provide so much to the Stanford community that the University is not adequately compensating for,” Shipp said.