SAC elects Finance Committee

The Student Activities Council elected four new members to the SAC Finance Committee last night, sifting through the largest number of candidates for the spots in recent years. Sixteen students ran for the four positions compared to only six or seven who ran in the last two elections. "I think it's great that student government is finally getting a lot of people running for office," Finance Committee Chairperson Howard Radzely said after the meeting. "Once you have people to choose from, you're going to get good people in." Radzely added that he thinks students are more aware of SAC than they were in former years, noting especially that some freshmen ran for spots last night. The Finance Committee recommends to the full SAC body how much money to give groups based on the groups' applications for funds. The full SAC body elected College freshman Michael Graves, Wharton and College junior Aron Schwartz, Wharton junior Rich Barrera and former committee member Grace Estebon to the Finance Committee. SAC is also one of the few student government groups to have such a large number of people campaigning for positions. During this month's Undergraduate Assembly elections, only three Engineering students ran for one vacancy and no Nursing students ran for their one spot for the second election in a row. All 16 candidates presented statements to SAC, stressing the need for the diversity of campus groups and their ability to judge impartially how much money to give student groups. New committee members said after the meeting they are excited to take over their new positions and are willing to listen to all the groups' requests without bias. "The most important thing I want to make sure of is that I reciprocate the honor given to me by spending as much time as I need to with SAC groups," Schwartz said. SAC members also distributed $10,555 in contingency money -- funding groups request that was not included in their annual allottment -- to 10 groups. SAC has $21,453 left in contingency funds for the semester.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.