The Associated Students passed a motion to allocate $9,000 to the Matador Cheerleading Squad for the Universal Cheerleading Association (UCA) Nationals competition held in Orlando, Florida, among a handful of decisions made at yesterday’s weekly meeting in the Grand Salon room.
Only four schools in California qualified to compete in the UCA Nationals including CSUN’s Cheerleading Squad. The team will compete along with 98 other schools from around the United States and the event will be televised on the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN).
More than half of the squad stood up during the meeting’s open forum to persuade AS to approve the funding.
‘We understand it’s a lot of money to ask for one group,’ said Krystal Brooks, a sophomore on the team. ‘But, we do a lot for the campus and don’t ask for much in return.’
Team captain, Shannon Koepke, agreed with Brooks and listed a dozen events the cheerleaders participate in including Freshman Orientation, Freshman Convocation, Welcome Back, Preview CSUN, AS Spirit Rally, pep rallies and the president’s picnic.’
‘We are big ambassadors for the university and this is a great opportunity for our program and for the university,’ said Koepke.
The cheerleaders won the second place position in a national competition last year and they expressed that participation in the UCA Nationals will not be possible without funding from the university. For several, this will be their only opportunity to compete such as graduating senior Jennifer Leuning.
Supporters of the cheerleaders in attendance included a sailing club member, Matty the Matador and representatives of the Associated Students Recreational sports club also known as ASREC.
It took the AS members over 30 minutes to come to an agreement on how much money to give to the cheerleaders. Two members in disagreement were Conor Lansdale and Abel Pacheco.
‘ Pacheco fought for the cheerleaders and thought they deserved an amount a little over $13,000, or 18 percent of the $73,984 left in the Unallocated Reserves, reserves for the remainder of the school year.
‘ ‘As an at-large senator, I represent everyone. I don’t serve one particular group or interest. That’s why I support (the cheerleaders). I would do it for any other group and I have done it for other groups.’
Lansdale disagreed. He said he believed the cheerleaders need the support but the amount Pacheco proposed exceeded the amount he thought they deserved. He proposed that the team should receive $9,000 in funding.
Luis Carbajo was also honored as the AS member of the month. When asked how he felt about the title, he said he felt great.
‘All of my work is paying off. I do more than ten office hours a week and I sit on six campus-wide meetings. I feel appreciated,’ Carbjao said.
Other A.S. Actions:
$1,000 allocated to EOHSA/Environmental and Occupational Health for 2009 EOH Technical Symposium
Approval to appoint Jorge Guzman as member of the Finance Committee
Accept the official results of Fall 2008 elections
Approve the amendment to the Elections Code, Article XI, General Elections
Approve ‘Associated Students Sustainability’ resolution
