Associated Students, Inc. declined to fund the Rotaract Club’s Guinness world record attempt at its meeting today.

The club plans to collect cans on campus for its U-Can Food Drive from April 3-10 and donate them to homeless people living in Sacramento’s tent city, as well as other areas.

Club president Joseph Ross and nine other members wanted ASI to spend up to $800 so the group could enter its food drive in the Guinness Book of World Records for possible judging.

“We want to make this food drive significant in size and message,” Ross said. The goal will be to collect 50,000 cans in one week.

ASI Executive President Miguel Cervantes said he was skeptical that the group would be able to pull off the event on such short notice. Several members asked the group to postpone the food drive and allow more time for planning.

Ross said that the economic situation created an urgent need to donate food and that the project could not be postponed because it was necessary for it to run during the Easter holidays. To meet Guinness’ standards, however, the club would not be allowed to officially collect any food until April 3 so that the record was measurable over a specific time period. Ross said breaking the record would set an example for other universities and garner media attention for Sacramento State.

Funding for the group would have to come from emergency legislation since it was proposed on short notice, and some ASI members were unsure that the project met the emergency criteria. Ross argued that the severity of the economic crisis and the upcoming April 3 deadline indicated that emergency legislation was needed.

Roberto Torres, executive vice president, agreed. “I never like when we get surprised like this, but this is something that we should be fully behind,” he said.

Others questioned the need for such a large expenditure to the Guinness Book of World Records – money that would go toward promotion, rather than benefiting the needy.

Felix Barba, vice president of university affairs, said ASI was first notified yesterday by email of the proposed legislation. The legislation called for “up to $800,” since Guinness required payment of 400 pounds. Torres said he calculated the currency conversion on his phone, which worked out to $782.35, but could fluctuate.

“It’s not that much money,” Torres said.

Barba said last year ASI set a precedent by not financially supporting a food drive, deciding that it was not an appropriate use of its funds. He said that the group should have applied earlier so that emergency legislation would not be necessary.

“Let’s just really keep in mind the coherence of our actions and what it says here,” Barba said.

Hitesh G. Dewan, director of engineering and computer science, pointed out that Guinness may not even choose to judge the club’s submission. Normally it takes four to six weeks for the organization to respond to an application, but Ross planned on paying extra for an expedited application.

Andres Perez, director of arts and letters, urged other members to fund the proposal. Not doing so, he said, would be “a slap in the face to every homeless person out there who would like some canned food.”

Torres praised the club’s initiative, saying that many programs are funded by ASI, but not all are student-initiated.

“The only other time that we have this many students is when we were talking about fees,” Torres said.

Kathryn Kay, vice president of academic affairs, introduced a motion to strip funding for the world record entry from the bill, which passed 7-6. The entire board then passed the revised bill by a unanimous vote.

Ross said that the club will continue to seek funding for the world record attempt through a Dollars for Organizations and Clubs grant, which is paid for with student fees like ASI funding.

“I was displeased,” Ross said, “but then again this came at the very last minute, so I understand the lack of time for them to prepare.”

Sam Pearson can be reached at [email protected].