Cooling down from last week’s intense debate over chartering Students for Social Equality, the senate held a quick meeting yesterday. In two unanimous votes, the senate granted spot funding to the Residence Hall Association and the Health Informatics and Information Management program.

Senators also discussed upcoming Atlas Week events and the results of last weekend’s phone-a-thon.

The senate unanimously passed a bill to grant the Residence Hall Association $1,830.92 in spot funding. RHA will use the money to send its executive board to a national conference in Berkeley, Calif.

The bill’s passage followed a somewhat long and difficult spot funding-request process. RHA had to appear before the Finance Committee five times before they settled on an allocation request, and the senate had rejected a similar bill at a meeting two weeks ago.

The senate also gave $680 in spot funding to students from the Department of Health Informatics and Informational Management. They will use the money to attend the Missouri Health Information Management Conference.

“Our Health Informatics and Information Management Department program is excellent-the best in the nation. I think we should reward them by sending them on this trip,” Administrative Vice President Teresa Gabhart said.

Senator Tim Cosentino, a senior representing the School of Social Work, announced that April will be Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

Events will begin on Wednesday, April 5, with a panel discussion featuring survivors of sexual violence.

Senators also discussed upcoming Atlas Week events. Several members of SGA will be giving presentations on international issues, including President Cari Johns.

“A lot of work has gone into the SLU World Fair, and it should be a blast. There will be a vast and diverse range of global cuisine, including Taiwanese food . The Parade of Nations should also be a lot of fun,” International Student Federation President Darren Pais, a junior in Parks College, said.

Pais also said that University President Lawrence Biondi, S.J., will be at the head of the parade in his golf cart, and that Billiken basketball player Ian Vouyoukas, a junior in the Cook School of Business, will carry the flag of his native Greece.

Senator Jamie Nichols, a junior representing the Cook School of Business, said that last weekend’s phone-a-thon to raise money for the Upperclass Scholarship was “a big success.”

“None of us wants to do the phone-a-thon, but let’s just bite the bullet and get it done,” Financial Vice President Joe Cirillo, a senior in the Cook School of Business, said.

Senator Shivany Seepersad, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, announced that SLU Black Student Alliance won the National Residence Hall Honorary’s “organization of the month.”

The award, granted after both a regional and national selection process, recognized their outstanding programming during Black History Month.