Spend Money and Do Something

Fellow Oliners, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that the student body is collectively rich. The bad news is we’re not as rich as we used to be. Let me explain. Every year the Student Activities Fee is collected from the pockets of our student body and thrown into a big ol’ pot. Typically, the SAF amounts to about $60k, but at the beginning of last year this pot held nearly $100k because money was rolling over year to year. We were very successful in spending all of it (and more) so this year we will start with around $55k. But don’t fret! I think we can make the $55k go a long way.

The first thing we elected officials do with that money is shower in it. Then we carefully collect every dollar bill and create a budget. The budget is decided upon by the members of CoRE, SAO and SAC after receiving input from Olin’s various organizations. This year, that budget has been split into five unequal chunks.

The first part of the budget will be given to CoRE for things like capital investments and other purchases. If you think Olin is missing something, CoRE is the organization to contact. Eric Jones or Larissa Little would love to hear your proposals. This chunk will be ~6k.

The second allotment will be dumped into SAC’s…sack. SAC will have 22k to spend on activities and adventures. Some events in the past have included hosting bands like Harry and the Potters, paintball, and Carnival. You can get involved in spending all this cash by joining SAC or SAC Lite. Alternatively, you can contact the SAC Chair, Kelsey Breseman, with your school-wide event ideas.

The third appropriation is given out to clubs by the SAO. Clubs are given a monthly budget that they can choose to spend on whatever they please. Purchases can be made on the p-card or by club members as long as they keep the receipts. To get a club signed up, contact myself or Tim Ryan.

The fourth appropriation is a small amount that is kept aside to hand out to exciting people (like you!) who would like to get a group of five or more people together to do something awesome (without having to become a club) like bungee jumping or trampoline dodgeball. Again, all you have to do is contact myself or Tim Ryan and we can hook you up.

The final share is given to each class to spend on activities. Contact your class reps with money-spending ideas. Each class is given the same amount (several hundred dollars) except the seniors get a bit more because they’ve had all this money spending practice and they’re good at it. Now go out, spend money, and do something!

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