SGA funds music therapy conference trip

Students attending the 2005 Music Therapy Conference will finally receive funding thanks to a decision made Thursday by the Student Government Association.

The 24-1 decision to allocate $650 to Music Therapy students marked the second time the University Senate voted on the issue.

A similar bill, passed a week earlier, was deemed unconstitutional because it held a stipulation that the money be allocated to seniors only.

University Sen. Lindsey Hornsby had previously proposed the bill be lowered to $350 and granted to seven seniors, rather than all 25 students attending the conference.

Hornsby said she felt SGA shouldn’t have to pay for underclassmen who might not stay in the Music Therapy major, and that seniors who had stayed in the major would be able to receive more money.

President Loman Martin vetoed this item from the original bill, and it was re-opened for discussion by the Senate.

University Sen. Robert Buckley, who authored the bill, serves as SGA representative for the Music Therapy Society.

“It would be too difficult to make sure only seniors received the money,” said Buckley. “It [the bill] was discussed again and, because the part about the money going only to seniors was taken out, the Senate raised the amount back up to $600, then to $650 again.”

University Sen. Sandra Green said it is quite rare for any bill to be reopened on the Senate floor.

“To only allocate money to the seniors isn’t fair because it excludes some members entirely,” said Green. “That has never been done in the past for any other group.”

Green made an amendment to Buckley because of the changes to the bill.

“Considering that $350 would not be allocated to only seniors, $350 divided among 25 people is a very small amount,” said Green. “I asked to raise the amount back up to $600. Then, Senator [Bret] Benson made an amendment to raise the bill to $650.”

Buckley accepted both of these amendments.

The final bill passed to allocate $650 for the Music Therapy Conference.

Georgia College & State University Music Therapy Director Chelsey Mercado said the Music Therapy Society is grateful for SGA’s funding for the conference.

“It’s imperative that students get funding to attend this conference,” said Mercado. “Students and professionals must pay the registration fee, for hotels and for food. We really appreciate that SGA has granted the students to be reimbursed for their expenses.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Mar 4 2005. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry