ELISHA VALLADARES-CORMIER
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
A previously tabled bill passed after much debate as one of six bills discussed during Franciscan Student Government’s meeting on Wednesday.
Fall Bill #25 was tabled during the Oct. 11 formal meeting and was un-tabled during Wednesday’s meeting. The bill was for the Graduate Counseling Association’s Alumni Weekend, held Oct. 6. If passed, it would reimburse club members $200 for what they spent on food, drinks and supplies for the event.
Sen. Jacob Watson rose in opposition to the bill. Watson told his fellow senators that though he was the bill’s sponsor, he opposed the bill on the grounds that the club had not put forth the effort necessary to pass the bill and had not shown any initiative to do its own fundraising.
“The club just assumed the bill would be passed and didn’t even bother to give me the information I needed,” said Watson. “Not a single member even showed up to the Oct. 11 meeting, which is why it was tabled in the first place.”
In addition, Watson felt it would be frivolous to spend Student Government money on “50 caramel apples and a gourmet popcorn bar,” as the bill called for.
Patricia Ona, who was representing the club at the meeting, responded that the money wasn’t going to be spent on frivolous items. Instead, Ona said that the event was a well thought out “networking opportunity,” as people were traveling large distances to attend the event.
Sen. Jeremiah Poff raised the point that the club had been forced to pay more than $200 out-of-pocket, which he said is a lot of money for college students to be putting up. Sen. Danny Bagley was originally opposed to the bill but agreed with Poff, calling the students’ willingness to pay with their own money admirable.
The bill was then put to a vote, where it passed by a large margin.
The two other bills put forth on behalf of the counseling association were not nearly as controversial.
Fall Bill # 38 called for $105 to be allocated to the association to buy food and drinks for a panel discussion that will be held on Nov. 9. Fall Bill #39 called for the allocation of $173, also to buy food and drinks, for the association’s hosting of a talk by Michael Horne, who holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, on Nov. 2. Both bills passed without opposition.
Three other bills were discussed at the meeting. Fall Bill #35 allocated $1,000 to the Student Creative Arts Network for the production of four short films over the course of the semester. Despite opposition from Sens. Watson and Daniel McNichol, the bill passed by a vote of 9-2.
Fall Bill # 36 allocated $100 to the Triathlon Club for expenses from their planned Halloween 5k run. Sens. Watson and Poff spoke in favor of the bill, which passed unanimously.
Fall Bill #37 called for $450 to be allocated to the Franciscan FATAL Ultimate Frisbee team. The money would be used to pay the team’s entrance for the Steel City Showdown Frisbee tournament. The bill passed unanimously.
Student Government will not meet next Wednesday, due to the feast of All Saints. The next meeting will be Nov. 8 at 11 a.m. in the St. Leo Room.