SGA considers Model UN finances, 5 a.m. registration

A revised bill to allocate $750 to cover the registration fee for 10 Model United Nations students to travel to the Southern Regional Model United Nations Conference, which passed at an amended $650, was the main topic of business at the Student Government Association’s Sept. 23 meeting.

The Senate decided the money could not be given to the Model UN because of a 2004 bill that puts a cap of $650 on any funds given to less than 12 people. The cap assures a small number of students do not receive a disproportionate amount of the SGA budget.

Senator Billy Grace asked for a re-vote after explaining that the Model UN could not add any more students to avoid the 2004 bill without, according to the bill, “increasing the cost of attending (the conference) to an unrealistic potential.” He added the $750 figure was a third of what Model UN had originally asked for.

Sophomore Senator Andrew Whittaker argued that the 2004 bill was there for a reason.

“There is no need to suspend the rules willy nilly,” Whittaker said. He also brought up his concern for future bills that request money.

“The next time 10 people come in here (asking for money),” Whittaker said, “is this going to set the precedent?”

Sabrina Atkins, chair of the Appropriation Committee, which reviews bills passed to it by the Senate, was not surprised by the outcome of the vote.

“It’s up to the Senate, and it’s what we expected,” Atkins said. “It’s not up to five (on the Appropriation Committee), it’s up to 25 (senators).”

The Model UN bill was just one of three proposed and voted on.

The second bill was to allocate $900 to the Georgia College Association of Nursing Students for T-shirts for its first annual “Race for your Rhythm 5K.” The bill was approved for referral to the Allocations Committee for further discussion.

A third bill to allocate $840 for uniforms for the Student Night Auxiliary Patrol and was approved for the Appropriation Committee to review.

Other business brought up in the meeting was a proposal to move the time of class registration from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m.

“Other schools have much better systems,” Atkins said, “(GCSU’s) is like ‘release the cattle!’ ”

President Pro-Tempore Marcus Green believes 5 a.m. registration “builds campus ethos” and fosters “competition” between students for the best classes.

The decision will be up to the Registration Committee and was tabled until next week.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Sep 25 2009. 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