At a time when the Undergraduate Student Government Senate is focused on fiscal responsibility, the body allocated almost $3,000 last night to three organizations.
The largest sum approved by senate, $1,416 for the Movin' On music festival, will pay for advertising, giveaways, T-shirts and stickers, according to the resolution.
The University Park Allocation Committee will cover the cost of production and the Association of Residence Hall Students will provide $16,000 for the event. ARHS plans to schedule national and local music acts for the festival, which will be announced upon the receipt of contracts. There will also be a tent area for student organizations and the military to recruit members.
"The event is available to everyone on campus and it's really not a very large allocation," West Halls Sen. Kristen Kofmehl said.
Volunteers from University Health Services also asked USG for funding last night. Several assistants from the HIV testing department asked USG to allocate $809.90 for advertising. Senate unanimously approved the request, which will allow the Office of Health Promotion and Education to promote its services on campus. While the state pays for the testing, the volunteers said students should be made more aware of this.
"A lot of people don't know about it, especially off-campus students," said volunteer Dan Roman (senior-biology).
Roman said that since one in 200 college-aged people has HIV, there are potentially 200 students at Penn State with the virus.
Volunteer Marie Cudoc (senior-biology) said there has been a slight increase in students taking advantage of the program since the department started using oral swabs rather than taking blood as a testing method.
"We should be overflowing with appointments and unfortunately we're not," she said.
USG also allocated $500 to support the Penn State Special Olympics club.
Town Sen. Jon Hartland said the club helps train athletes, accompanies them to sporting events and works with the Centre County Special Olympics.
USG President Justin Zartman supported the senate's actions.
"I feel these programs are essential for improving student life." He added, "We need to look at how much we're spending, but these were very worth while programs."
