Financial Officer: Carlos Nunez (cnunez@stanford.edu)
Amount Approved: $12,694
Full Budget

What is the mission and purpose of your student group?

Mariachi Cardenal de Stanford seeks to educate the Stanford
community about Mexican culture by playing and promoting a
traditional form of Mexican music known as mariachi music.  We
hope that by playing this music at our various performances
throughout campus and by putting on a class open to the Stanford
community free of charge, we can achieve this.  Through all of
this we hope to make Stanford a diverse community and represent
it as such.

Why are you requesting Special Fees?

We are asking for Special fees so that we can pay for the
instructors that teach a class where members of the group, and
any interested members of the Stanford community, get their
instruction, free of charge.  We are also asking for funds to
offset the costs of our annual spring show that we also offer to
the Stanford community free of charge.

What are the three largest line item requests in your budget and why?

The largest item is the honoraria that goes to pay the mariachi
instructors that teach Music 157, which is a mariachi class. 
This is the largest item because the class is one of the most
important aspects of our group.  Mariachi is a style of music
that is not very well known in the United States.  As such, there
are very few people who are proficient in playing that style of
music.  The vast majority of the members of Mariachi Cardenal
have never played mariachi music before coming to Stanford and
enrolling in the class.  Thus, in order for the members to be
able to play mariachi music and spread its culture, the members
need to receive professional instruction.  The other largest line
items are related to our Spring Show, which we feel is important
because it allows us the greatest opportunity to spread our music
to the rest of the Stanford population.

If you applied for Special Fees last year, is there an increase in the
amount you're seeking this year?  If so, why?

There is actually a decrease of about $700 in the amount of
Special Fees we are requesting as compared to last year.