Longwood University Police Department Chief of Police Bob Beach and Farmville Police Chief Doug Mooney opened the Feb. 21 Student Government Association (SGA) meeting with statements about Sunday night's Buffalo Street sofa fire and mass gathering of students. Both said they were disappointed with students' immature actions, including the fire and juvenile antics while playing in the snow. For more information on Sunday night and Monday morning's incidents, see "Longwood, Farmville Open Investigation into Buffalo St. Incident" on the front page.
After Beach and Mooney's statements, SGA President Brandon Fry told the SGA to "be student leaders" and "step up" during incidents such as this week's couch fire.
Judicial Board Treasurer Joseph Sanford was then sworn in as Judicial Board Representative.
Senator Abby Pendleton said a staff member at the Longwood University Parking Services Office was not very helpful to her friend who was in a family emergency. Treasurer Brian Reid responded that the office needs to be strict about parking policies due to past students who used deceitful means in order to park at the university.
Greek Representative Dan Hughes said several students complained about the lapse of time between elevators breaking and getting fixed. He added there were also concerns about the lack of decent lighting near Wynne Parking Lot behind Bedford Hall.
Senator Kaylin Minton added that students have been repeatedly destroying the lights in the Dorrill Dining Hall elevators, disadvantaging others who use them. Vice President Matthew Hovey said students should "respect fellow Lancers" and not take down the lights in the elevators.
Senator Sarah Sharp said she was told the Blackwell Hall construction work was supposed to have been completed a while ago and wondered when it would actually be finished. Fry said he would try to find out what is going on at the site.
Auditor Sarah Bendrick asked if there could be an emergency plan when Janet D. Greenwood Library is closed early for inclement weather such as snow, since its 7 p.m. closing on Sunday night inconvenienced some students.
Senator Trevina Joseph raised concerns about faded parking signs on campus. She said many visitors have been confused about their designated parking zones due to the signs. Senator Brandon Readus said he would talk with parking officials about the signs.
Sophomore Class President Queen Burrell said many students were concerned that the administration did not send an email concerning Longwood's two-hour delay on Monday. Fry said administration often avoids doing this in order to avoid incidents such as the fire on Sunday night. He also added that Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Tim Pierson is only able to send emails to students from his office, and he had left campus by the time it was decided to reveal the two-hour delay.
Fry conducted the second reading of the Town Council Act of 2012 (Senate Bill No. 1). The Legislative Affairs Committee approved the bill, as well at the SGA as a whole. Fry introduced the SGA's recently submitted Orca TV LancerAds advertisement and encouraged students to not only utilize LancerAds, but spread the word to other students to do the same as well.
The SGA allocated $145.96 to the Cook-Cole College of Arts and Sciences Student Advisory Board for the Student Alumni Networking Event (SANE). The SGA then approved $822.78 to the B.A.S.I.C. Gospel Choir.
The SGA then brought forward two monetary re-allocations. The SGA re-allocated $780 to the Outdoor Club for ski and rafting trips. However, the motion to re-allocate $590 to Mortar Board failed. There were several senators who expressed they did not feel it was fair to allocate the money because it was already spent for their initiation event.
The next SGA meeting will take place on Feb. 28 in the BC rooms of Lankford Student Union.
