The ASUNM Senate debated for about an hour Wednesday night over a $2,210 allocation to send M.E.Ch.A., a student group, to a national conference.
M.E.Ch.A, which stands for Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, is a national Chicano student community service group, advocates for the Chicano education, culture, and community and networks with high schools, community organizations, and UNM student organizations.
The group initially requested $3,318 to send 12 members of the group to the national M.E.Ch.A Conference to be held at San Diego State University in San Diego, Calif., but the finance committee cut the requested amount to $2,585.
Finance Chairman Sen. Grant Nichols thanked about 10 members of the group for attending the meeting to provide the Senate with a three-page handout on the group's past services, accomplishments and goals for this semester.
Sen. Javier Martinez, a member of the Finance Committee, argued for the proposed amount of $2,585 because he said the conference could provide the campus with valuable perspectives on race issues.
"Look at December, look at what happened with that swastika," he said. "This is a good opportunity to start healing those wounds."
Many senators, however, thought the funding was still too high. Sen. Gerald Pacheco proposed cutting the appropriation to $1, 835.
Sen. Heather Gabel said that M.E.Ch.A.'s appropriation bill for $2, 585 was the largest she had seen at ASUNM.
"If we keep giving away this much money there won't be any left to give," she said. "We don't have an unlimited amount."
Nichols said the largest appropriation last semester was for $4,265 to the Agora Crisis Center. He said the finance committee appropriated more than $30,000 in the fall and that they had $35,000 left to use this spring.
As the Senate continued to go back and forth over the issue, Sen. Joshua Aragon begged for an end to the arguing.
"It's not our job to debate a bill to death," he said. "Please let's just get through this discussion."
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Sen. Josh Ewing proposed a compromise of $2,210 allocation, which Aragon agreed with and the Senate passed by a vote of 14-6. The allocation will provide $37.50 per day for six people to spend in five days.
M.E.Ch.A. member Meriah Heredia said that the $2,100 compromise was fair, but that the group would have liked more funding for such a significant conference.
"An important part of the organization is our national links," she said. "They provide us with a lot of leadership training."
