On Sunday, February 28th, the UA approved the 2010-2011 Annual Budget after amending the Budget Committee’s recommendation in ten significant areas. Key features of the 2010-2011 Budget include:

• A major increase in SAC funding: an extra $64,000 for student groups (or 7.77% increase from last year!).
• Restructuring Spring Fling finances: accounting changes mean that while Fling is unchanged its true cost is now reported and accounted for; plus, the recommendation includes a little bit extra for Concert talent.
• A major increase in Connaissance Major Speaker Honoraria funding (from $61,000 per semester to $75,000 per semester).
• Restoration of the SPEC Film Speaker Event with $13,000 of funding.
• Some program eliminations:
  • Dolphin email accounts ($4950)
  • SPEC Concerts Small Show Series ($3000)
  • SPEC Connaissance Philomathean Society Annual Oration Co-Sponsorship ($3000)
  • Minority Scholars Weekend ($2250)
  • SPEC Special Events Third Spring Fest ($2000)
  • SPEC Connaissance Haitian Solidarity Week Co-Sponsorship ($1000)
  • Haitian Solidarity Week Co-Sponsorship ($1000)
  • Holocaust Memorial Day Co-Sponsorship ($1000)
  • GUIDE Co-Sponsorship ($1000)
• Standardization of SPEC Jazz and Grooves and SPEC-TRUM Spring Concert with Fall Concerts, involving cutting:
  • $10,550 from SPEC Jazz and Grooves Spring Concert
  • $7,950 from SPEC-TRUM Spring Concert

The final budget is available in a printable version (for legal-size paper!) or an online Google Docs version.

See below the jump for an itemized list of approved amendments. And tell us what you think in the comments!

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Check out upcoming RecycleMania events here!

RecycleMania is a 10-week competition between over 400 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. Campuses compete in different contests to see which institution can collect the largest amount of recyclables per capita, the largest amount of total recyclables, the least amount of trash per capita, and achieve the highest recycling rate.

The 2010 RecycleMania Tournament will run from January 17 to March 28, with Penn competing in a division against its “Ivy Plus” peers at Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale. Scroll down to see results from last year’s competition and learn more about what you can do to help Penn increase its recycling rate and reduce its waste in the 2010 tournament.

The NEC has released a new and exciting newsletter detailing everything the PSG has been doing this past semester! Check it out!

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From the Muslim Students Association, and sponsored by the UA:

The Philadelphia community is warmly invited to this year’s 9-11 Ramadan Banquet. Please join us for an evening of remembrance as we celebrate an organization that has truly improved our country since 9-11. The event is on Friday September 11th at 6pm in Hall of Flags. Dinner will be served to all who attend.

Details below the jump:

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