According to the 2018-19 ABSA budget allocation, Berkeley's Korean American Student Association (KASA) was given $17,000 in funding for the current academic year, amounting to 3.6% of Student Activity Group funding, and $19,300 last year.

When ASUC was asked about the extent to which KASA was funded on a Reddit AMA, a senator replied that "KASA’s funds directly help fund the operations and events of over 13 distinct Korean organizations that come to KASA for financial, logistical, and organizational direction." However, according to their ABSA submission (which can be found on the club's CalLink page), KASA only claims to provide funding for Superb, which is not a Korean organization.

The same senator wrote that the extent of KASA's funding is partially driven by its having been sponsored for 37 years; however, the Muslim Student Association, which has been sponsored for 31 years, receives $12,000 in funding this year, 71% of the amount granted to KASA, despite having 550 to 600 members compared to KASA's 250. Other large ethnically-related student organizations, such as the Chinese Student Association and Indian Student Association, also receive much smaller amounts of funding ($6000 for each group).

In addition to these statistics, there have been several claims of misusing funds and partying against KASA in the AMA and elsewhere, which if true constitute a violation of ASUC policy as laid out in section D of the ABSA instructions.

During my time at Cal, I've seen a number of registered student organizations struggle to obtain the funds they need for continued operation. Increased oversight of ABSA funding, not only for KASA but also for all other organizations, would allow for a more equitable distribution of funds and will help Berkeley students continue to pursue their interests outside of the classroom.