ELISHA VALLADARES-CORMIER
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
Franciscan University Student Government swore in newly-elected senators and held elections for all other empty seats at the formal meeting on Wednesday.
Senate-hopefuls stood along the walls of the St. Leo Room, where Student Government holds its meetings, as they prepared for the moment when they would make their case to the body for membership. One sophomore seat and two junior seats were open, and each opening had multiple contenders.
They would have to wait, however, until the completion of the meeting’s formal business.
Treasurer Nicole Hough reported that following the allocations from the previous week’s meeting, the contingency fund held $24,750.21. Sen. Daniel McNichol followed this by reporting that the Finance Committee had met and approved all bills on the agenda.
McNichol proceeded to introduce Fall Bill #21, which allocated $400 to the St. Vitus Dance Club. According to club president David Forrester, the funds would be used to pay instructors from Steel City Dance for dance lessons that are open to the entire student body. After Forrester answered Sen. Marisa Pinto’s question about fundraising, the bill passed unanimously.
Fall Bill #22 called for $275 to be allocated to the dance club as well. The money from this bill would be used for the club’s second dance competition of the semester on Oct. 29. McNichol announced that the Finance Committee had passed amendments on the bill during their meeting that required the club to hold an entrance fee for students competing in the competition and that no officers would be eligible to win prize money.
Senators Daniel Bagley and Victoria Snell both disagreed with first amendments, with Bagely saying that an entrance fee would discourage people from entering the competition. Chief Justice Ben Idzik spoke up as well, calling the amendments an overreach by Student Government.
“Student Government should not directly manage events that clubs put on,” said Idzik. “That’s what club officers are for.”
Senators McNichol, Pinto and Jacob Watson spoke in support of the amendments. When a roll call vote was begun to overturn the amendments resulted in a tie, Vice President Gabe Gessler voted against the measure. The bill was then passed without changes.
After the meeting, Forrester expressed his frustration with the decision and agreed that it was an overreach by Student Government.
Immediately after this, McNichol presented Fall Bill #23, which allocated $367.92 to reimburse President Samantha Martinez for ticket purchases to the Network Conference, held Oct. 27-29 in Texas. Watson and Pinto spoke in support of the bill and it was approved unanimously.
Fall Bill #24 called for $300 to be allocated to Leo Munday for the development of a new official website. According to Martinez, this would be a one-time cost, and the site would be launched by Oct. 3. The bill was passed without objection.
Fall Bill #20, which allocated $52.63 to Young Americans for Freedom for website renewal costs, was un-tabled and passed unanimously.
After the conclusion of formal business, Idzik opened the new senator elections. Once the ballots were counted, he announced that Paul Nick had won the sophomore seat and Jeremiah Poff and Francis Heroux had been elected to the two junior seats. They joined the newly elected freshman senators: Monica Surorec, Michael Williams and Ann Cortese. After Idzik swore them in, the meeting was adjourned.
UPDATE: FUSG’s next meeting is now Oct. 11 at 11 a.m. in the St. Leo Room.