SA: 20100506 R Cinema

Whereas, Appendix B, Part IV, Section H of the Student Assembly Charter reads: “Cornell Cinema shall not increase student ticket prices without the express approval of the SA.” Therefore, the SA must approve any increases in ticket prices for undergraduate tickets.

Whereas, Cornell Cinema has the following current and proposed new ticket prices:

Customer Current Ticket Price Proposed New Ticket Price Undergraduate Students* $4.00 $4.50 Graduate Students $4.00 $4.00 Senior Citizens $5.00 $5.50 General Admission $6.50 $7.00

Whereas, Cornell Cinema has provided the attached document supporting an increase in ticket prices;

Be it therefore resolved that the Assembly approve an increase in undergraduate student ticket prices for Cornell Cinema from $4.00 to $4.50.

Respectfully Submitted,

Christopher Basil
Vice President for Finance

Cornell Cinema is proposing to raise the ticket price for undergraduates from $4.00 to $4.50. The graduate student ticket price will remain at $4.00. This change would go into effect at the beginning of our Summer ‘10 calendar (June 20, 2010).

There are three main reasons for this increase:

• Last fall the Student Assembly voted to set Cornell Cinema’s portion of the undergraduate activity fee at $10 for FY10–11 & FY11–12 ($1 less than what Cornell Cinema currently receives and $1.75 less than what we requested), a cut in funding of approximately $13,000.
  • Please note: we do not expect this ticket price increase to fully compensate for that funding cut.
• Last fall the GPSA voted to set Cornell Cinema’s portion of the graduate activity fee at $11.05, creating a $1.05 difference between what we receive from graduate and undergraduate students via the activity fee. When there has been a difference like this in the past, we have instituted separate ticket prices for graduates and undergraduates to reflect the difference. Several times during the byline funding process in the fall, we explained that this would be one of the outcomes of receiving different amounts from the SA and the GPSA.
• We have received funding cuts due to the recession from the New York State Council on the Arts, the College of Arts & Sciences and in cosponsorship funding from a variety of academic departments. We are bracing for further cuts in our grant from the New York State Council on the Arts, as Gov. Patterson’s current proposed budget includes a 40% cut in that organization’s funding, which, if approved, will likely be passed on to grant recipients.

We believe this ticket price increase (along with similar increases in our senior citizen and general admission ticket prices) will help cover these budget shortfalls, but at the same time, not pose a significant hardship on undergraduates that would result in a detrimental drop in attendance.

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