Though the majority of the Sept. 9 Student Government Association meeting was spent discussing the inclusion of special projects funding and the addition of a committee of representatives, both of the issues were tabled until next week.
The first issue of the night was presented by both SGA President Michael Harriss and Financial Vice President Robert Moehle. They sought to amend the association’s bylaws to include Special Projects Funding.
These funds would only be used as a last resort when other resources cannot be found.
While Harriss said that these funds were just goals, many senators felt that they were a road-block number.
Harriss responded to the criticism by saying “they are not brick walls, they are goals. . The Senate has the power to create whatever budget they want. I feel like we are putting up so much legislative red tape.”
The second issue of much discussion revolved around the possibility of adding a committee of representatives to the association, presented by Vice President of Internal Affairs Andrew Miller.
Each of these committees would consist of up to three members, who would be nominated by the Committee of Internal Affairs and confirmed by the Senate.
According to Miller, the addition of these representatives will “open up the intellectual diversity.”
This idea was met with criticism by some who felt that the addition of these representatives would devalue senators, because the representatives would have voting power.
College of Arts and Sciences senator Kasia Sullivan said that she didn’t think that Miller’s bill was the solution to the problem.
“I think SGA has a few more steps to go before putting people on committees,” she said.
Despite the criticism, there were those who felt that this addition would make SGA more accessible.
“To have more voices is a good thing,” First-Year Senator Chris Ackels said. “We don’t have answers to everything, and let’s be open to that fact. There are people out there who can help us do our jobs.”
In addition to the debates, the majority of the bills at this week’s meeting involved seating members of the various committees within SGA.
This week’s meeting also featured a presentation by a panel of ITS directors.
One of the main points of discussion was that the government is now requiring ITS to provide the names of people doing illegal downloading on their network.
If caught, ITS members said that possible fines for students would range anywhere from $50 to $100 per download.
