ISU Homecoming Central Committee was denied the request for additional funds by the Ames City Council for the homecoming Central Campus pancake feed that will take place Oct. 29.

 

The committee spoke at the council meeting Tuesday regarding various homecoming events. The council denied the committee’s request for $1,500 in funding for the pancake feed, and chose instead to maintain the $1,000 in funds the council provided for the event last year.

Alex Menard, senior in anthropology and homecoming central committee general co-chairman, informed the council that because of higher student enrollment at Iowa State and increasing popularity in the event, a higher number of students are expected for the pancake feed.

Kurt Beyer, adviser to the homecoming central committee, said that the committee is planning on increasing the number of servings from 800 to 1,200 in order to cover the expected large number of students.

In a letter to the mayor and City Council members, the committee stated that it costs $3.50 per serving of pancakes, but are hoping to continue serving the food at $2. Menard said that the committee suffers a financial set-back every year because of this.

Committee members stressed how important the event is for the Homecoming tradition as well as for safety, and said that they would like to keep the cost low to encourage more people to attend.

“[Students] will come to eat pancakes instead of participating in other alcohol-related activities and this alternative might keep them from making poor choices,” according to the committee’s letter. “By helping us with additional funding, we will be able to continue to provide a safe environment for people to spend their Friday night.”

Thomas Wada, City Council member, said that while they support ISU Homecoming activities, they should try to keep the government funds at consistent prices from year to year.

Matthew Goodman, City Council member, agreed.

“It’s 150 percent of what we gave last year and if any other [organization] came and asked us that we would say no.”

The motion to fund $1,000 to the homecoming pancake feed was unanimously carried.

The council approved other homecoming related requests including the closure of certain streets in the greek community area during the greek lawn display performances, a temporary obstruction permit to cover these areas and the approval of the fireworks display on Central Campus at midnight.