Student Services Fees subcommittees released their recommendations Wednesday for student group funding – a day earlier than expected.

Many student groups received recommendations that were significantly lower than their requests. The subcommittees recommended no funding for The Wake and the Community Child Care Center, which were both funded this year.

“Sometimes the recommendations change once the full committee deliberates, but it is really hard to tell,” said Aaron Asmundson, student fees committee adviser.

For a few student groups, the votes made on their requests were close or tied. It is possible that those recommendations could change once the full committee deliberates, Asmundson said.

Student groups’ reactions to the recommendations ranged from shock to fury.

A subcommittee voted 3-2 to recommend The Wake receive no student fees. The magazine requested $120,000, double what it got last year.

The subcommittee said the magazine has not demonstrated an increase in readership since first receiving funding from Student Services Fees this year. The amount of its budget dedicated to salary, wages and stipends is excessive, according to the subcommittee’s proposal.

Although The Wake co-publisher Chris Ruen is unhappy with the recommendation, he also said this is not the first time the fees process was dramatic for the publication.

Last year, the magazine went from a subcommittee recommendation of full funding to a full committee proposal for no funding, back to full funding after final deliberations, Ruen said.

Based on the number of magazines gone from newsstands, Ruen said twice as many students as last year are reading the magazine.

“The one thing we learned this year is that we need more money, we need more investment if we’re going to be able to achieve our goals,” Ruen said. “Establishing a long-lasting publication doesn’t happen overnight.”

James DeLong, The Wake co-publisher, said he does not think the publication can continue without funding from student fees.

He said the subcommittee’s recommendation is irresponsible because closing would mean getting rid of computers, a printer, a scanner and furniture the publication amassed using student fees.

“It will be like they wasted $60,000,” DeLong said.

The Community Child Care Center, which received $60,000 this year, received a zero funding recommendation. All the sub-committee, except for one abstention, voted in favor of the recommendation.

“We are completely outraged. Based on their reasoning, it is very obvious they have not read our application or listened to a word that we said,” said Jill Madison, the Community Child Care Center director.

“Without (the money) we are faced with the possibility of not staying open,” Madison said. The organization will turn 30 in May.

Amy Olson, Hillel Jewish Student Center director, said she was somewhat surprised by a subcommittee’s funding recommendation for her group.

Hillel received a recommendation for about one-third of their request – half of what they received last year from Student Services Fees.

“There was a split decision regarding our recommendation, she said. “I’m hoping through further communication we might be able to get a higher recommendation.”

Ming Li, Friendship Association of Chinese Students and Scholars president, said he was not surprised the subcommittee recommended his group receive $12,000, the full amount it requested.

“We’re very careful about spending money,” Li said. “That’s one of the reasons the committee recommended we receive the money.”

The subcommittee recommendations are not final. The subcommittees will reconvene for a full committee deliberation Friday, which will be followed by public hearings.

The full committee will release its final fees recommendations March 22.

– Patricia Drey, Shannon Fiecke and Eric Swanson contributed to this report.