Included in the increase is $5,840 for blue books, a number that doubled as ASMSU saw twice as many blue books taken from the shelves this year. Student Assembly’s budget for conferences and leadership development increased by $6,000, and Academic Assembly saw its conference budget rise $700. Legal services received $380,318, an increase of $6,146, and mostly will be used to pay for lawyers helping students with legal troubles.

Not all areas saw increases in their budgets. Several personnel were eliminated or consolidated, saving the organization $6,336 in the 2010-11 school year. The programming board and the Red Cedar Log each decreased by about 2 percent, and the senior and freshman councils saw a reduction by $900 and $300, respectively.

In all, the new budget created by ASMSU is one that can’t be strongly criticized. The organization should be putting money in places where students will see the most positive effects. This time, it increased two of the more tangible uses: blue books and legal services.

However, ASMSU recently passed a referendum to fund the ASMSU Readership Program, and if planned correctly, could have funded it completely with previous budgets. Just because the group has more money doesn’t mean it has to spend it in certain areas. If there is a program in place that needs funding, it deserves the most priority when budgets are created.

ASMSU did, however, raise the budget of the events where it created the Readership Program, conferences and leadership development. A lot of good ideas can stem from the conferences and retreats that will come from the funds, and that’s great if it stays on task the whole time. If the extra money is used so the group can stay an extra couple of days at a ski lodge, then the increase likely should have gone elsewhere. If it’s to exchange ideas with each other and organizations from other schools then it makes a little more sense. It’s a little upsetting ASMSU cut from some of the more important items on the budget.

The programming board is responsible for funding undergraduate student group activities and is a valuable asset to many of the groups on campus and the Red Cedar Log can be seen in buildings across campus as the annual yearbook.

ASMSU did a relatively good job in setting its budget. In a perfect world, especially in tough economic times, it would spend less or make sure all the tangible services offered are increased. But as long as all the increased funds are used responsibly, the 2010-11 budget can’t be criticized too harshly.