The Finance Board granted a little over 50 percent of requested funds for the regular fall 2011 marathon, said Student Union Treasurer Daniel Lee '12 in an interview with the Justice. The amount of money distributed came to $195,647.96, while the total amount requested at marathon was $460,410.64, according to Budget Analyst Steven Costa in an interview with the Justice.

This is a slight decrease from the $463,000 requested during marathon funding for the fall 2010 semester; a total of $196,893 was distributed for both early and regular marathon fund requests, according to a Sept. 21, 2010 Justice article.

According to Lee, the decrease is a result of past over-allocations of funds, late transaction forms from clubs, an increase of chartered clubs requesting funds and projects funded by the F-Board.

Lee said that although the F-Board attempted to keep funding distribution low enough to remain within their budget, they still over-allocated some funds. According to Lee, rollover funds, which are collected when clubs have not spent as much money as they were granted, will help offset the effect of the over-allocated funds.

Lee also said that many clubs were not able to receive as much money as they had in the past due to an increase in the number of chartered clubs requesting funds. Coupled with the lesser amount of funds available to distribute, this was a factor in a smaller amount of money given to clubs.

In addition, the F-Board is funding a few projects, which affects the amount of money available to clubs. According to Lee, these projects include providing a new truck for the Brandeis Emergency Medical Corps and updating the Student Union Management System.

"It's important for BEMCo to have a truck because they provide safety to our student body," said Lee. In regards to the SUMS update, he said that the site, which he hopes will be operating by next year or as early as next semester, will be easier to use and will organize all financial transaction information into one place.

In addition, clubs requesting payments for unpaid transactions well into the summer also affected the budget. "When we finalized numbers, people, in the summer, would be like, ‘Hey, my contractor wasn't paid $800.' Sometimes, it would be as ridiculous as a couple thousand [dollars]," said Lee.

Costa said there was an increase in the total amount of money in the Student Activities Fund this semester as a result of the larger student body, since each student pays an individual Students' Activities Fee. According to Lee, despite the increase in students, it was not enough to cover all the projects, over-allocation of funds and late transaction forms received from clubs.

In general, money is distributed to clubs based on an evaluation of past use of F-Board funding and a decision of whether clubs had "effectively" used the funds given to them, according to Lee. "It was very tough because a lot of clubs had events and activities that were very popular and also well-known throughout the past years," said Lee. "Historically, these clubs were funded, but at the same time, we just weren't in the position to give them that amount just because we didn't have [enough funds]."

However, despite obstacles in allocating funds, Lee said he feels that many of the clubs received fair time and effort from F-Board members during the allocation process and that although he has heard from clubs who were not satisfied with the amount of funds they received, club members were also "understanding" of the F-Board's limited funds and the increase of chartered clubs on campus.

President of both the Arab Culture Club and Brandeis Students for Justice in Palestine Ashraf Hussein '12 said in a phone interview with the Justice that both of his clubs will have to scale back on their plans for this upcoming semester, but he also said he understands that several clubs are in similar situations.

The Arab Culture Club received about 68 percent of the funds it requested, while BSJP received about 54 percent.

President and Treasurer of the Ballroom Dance Club Tyler Roberts '13 said in a phone interview with the Justice that he felt his club did not receive adequate funding, partially because the group feels pressured to combine with the Ballroom Dance Team.

The Ballroom Dance Club received about 57 percent of the total funds it requested.

As a result, Roberts said that the club will not be having any performances this semester and will cut some of its classes.

Lee stated that if club members determine that they still need more funding, they can request emergency funding later on this semester once Costa has determined the exact amount of money available from rollover funds. Lee said that information would be available either at the end of October, or mid-November, at the latest.

—Nashrah Rahman and Hillel Buechler contributed reporting.