President Carol Cartwright paid a visit to the Undergraduate Student Government last night to clear up any confusion about the hot topics on the minds of many in the student body.

Cartwright thanked USG for giving her the time to talk with the group, calling the group effective and thanking them for helping to ‘articulate the issues,’ assisting the University administration and being a voice of the students.

She also called them ‘very important change-agents,’ and because people are not okay with stepping out of their comfort zone, they serve as a rationale for clear communicating.

She then addressed the University’s bugdet.

‘This could be a weeklong seminar,’ Cartwright said. She attempted to ‘boil down’ the most important points.

Cartwright said her main goal is balancing what the University pays out with what it receives. She said money for funding the University comes from both tuition revenue and State Share of Instruction, which has funded $64 million less after the Ohio Opportunity Grant was cut.

‘It’s very difficult to decide what to cut back on,’ Cartwright said.

Cartwright also cleared up the existence of two different budgets. One for operating, which keeps the University going, and one for capital used for renovations. She stressed that these are two very different pools of money, which makes it possible to have funding for the Stroh and Wolfe centers while tuition is forced to increase.

She also informed USG that the University is prohibited from transferring money between the two accounts.

She asked members to continue being ‘good communicators for students’ because much of the student body remains still unsure about the fine details of the budget.

Cartwright fielded questions and informed students that studies are underway about adding dining services to the Jerome Library, desicions are still being made about different dining and residence halls and that the tuition costs will again be closely worked with in the spring for next year.

The fact that Cartwright received a $75,000 raise last school year was a topic of criticism at the meeting.

Sen. at Large Andrew Fortlage first brought up the raise Cartwright received. She said she donated a portion of that raise to a charity and did not want to challenge the Board of Trustees or put them in a difficult situation by questioning their decision to grant her the raise.

Senior Jacob Smith also shared his views on the president’s actions during Lobby Time.

‘I seek to bring attention to the wrongs,’ Smith said. ‘All departments are taking cuts.’

He said ‘the very blood’ of the University, the students, are forced to pay more for tuition and ‘the backbone,’ the faculty, are not receiving fair treatment as well, ‘which our own provost agrees with.’

‘This is, at best, disappointing,’ he said. ‘It may be [my military background, but I was taught] to take care of soldiers before you take care of yourself.’

He then added that he was disappointed in USG for not publicly demanding an explanation.

‘Do the right things for the right reasons,’ he said. Smith pushed that Cartwright deny the pay raise because professors deserve it, since they refused raises for fall semester in order to delay the student tuition increase until the spring.

‘If you enjoy paying less this semester, be sure to thank your teachers in the morning,’ he said, concluding with a standing ovation from Fortlage.

President Sundeep Mutgi and Vice President Kevin Bacsh said they enjoyed having Cartwright accept their meeting invitation.

‘It’s always great to get directly to the source,’ Mutgi said. ‘She’s firm in the desicions she makes, she’s well-aware and willing to answer the tough questions.’

University Men’s Chorus Treasurer Anthony Gallina addressed USG by asking for better funding for the group.

Gallina said the group is a good recruitment tool for the University, and 23 of the members enrolled because they saw the chorus perform at their high school prior.

The Student Budget Committee only funded Men’s Chorus with $600 after being funded $12,000 last year.

‘I think it’s a shame [the Student Budget Committee] doesn’t fund a group that does what [Men’s Chorus does],’ College of Arts and Sciences Sen. Danielle McConnell said.

USG also added that they now have pages on Facebook and Twitter, and encourage students to become involved with the government online.