The second Student Government Association (SGA) meeting of 2013 began with the addition of two new representatives to the Senate. President Donald Knight swore in SAC Representative Jessica Diaz and College of Business and Economics Representative Stuart Paykel.
The Senate then invited the floor for the weekly open forum. Executive Senator Leighan Worden said the new picnic tables around campus are very popular among students, especially because they are wheelchair accessible. Historian Paige Rollins commented that a large dumpster at Lancer Park has become a blind spot and safety hazard for drivers.
Dorrill Dining Hall’s new fire brick oven warranted several comments. While one senator said some of the pizza served is charred, others said students think the pizza tastes better overall. Gina DeMarco, senior class president and Student Services Committee chair, said the charred pizza will be removed from the displays in the future.
One senator said some students had issued complaints about snow plows being in operation near the Longwood Landings non-stop from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. last Thursday night and Friday morning during the snowfall, causing many to lose sleep. This will be brought up at the next Town Council meeting.
DeMarco reminded the SGA that students should give the specific time and place, as well as the names of any people involved, when making comments so issues can be solved effectively.
Students have previously raised concerns about doors of Longwood-managed apartment complexes somehow being open when students returned from break when they were locked before they left. Residential & Commuter Life (RCL) Advisory Board representative Logan Miller said the problem seemed to primarily occur at Longwood Village. He said he will bring up this issue at an RCL Advisory Board meeting in the near future.
A senator mentioned that many students would like to know why the Janet D. Greenwood Library closes at midnight at the latest. Vice President Brian Reid explained that it is a budgetary issue because in order for the library to remain open later, the employees have to be paid more in order to work during these late hours. However, Knight said he would be happy to take any library-related comments to the Dean of the Library Suzy Palmer.
Executive Senator Leighan Worden said several students, including herself, have received early graduation registration notices and have holds on their accounts as a result of not paying the fees.
Reid said students receive these notices according to the number of credits they have completed, and sometimes students who are not yet graduating get these notices because of this. He said students can contact the Office of the Registrar to resolve this issue.
Knight then encouraged the SGA to share comments students had about diversity on campus. Some students believe the campus is not very diverse. There were students who thought Longwood’s holiday celebrations were very Christmas-centered and only made small tributes to other kinds of holidays that took place during the holiday season.
However, another senator said students believe the university is diverse because students have many different backgrounds and experiences. She said the community just has to dig a little deeper to find it.
Another senator added that there is a large focus on racial diversity, but there are other types of diversity as well, such as socioeconomic diversity. Knight then encouraged the SGA to empower students to find different ways to promote diversity on campus.
Knight announced that the SGA will release SGA applications by the end of the week for students interested in joining the Senate.
Rollins brought forth the constitution for the Sociology Club, an organization for sociology majors and minors, of which the SGA approved.
The Sports Club Council (SCC), which monitors sports club constitutions before they the SGA approves or denies them, brought forward a proposal to have open communication between the SCC and the SGA. The SCC and the Executive Board will have a private meeting to discuss the subject.
DeMarco then announced Resolution 1, a movement to indefinitely suspend Article 4 Section 1.67 of the SGA’s Constitution. This essentially means that DeMarco and her co-sponsors wanted to remove the Spirit Committee because they did not believe it was effective.
The SGA moved to adopt Resolution 1. The Senate also discussed possibly combining what was the Spirit Committee with Lancer Lunatics.
The Student Finance Committee then allocated $10 to the senior class for overhead.
Treasurer Queen Burrell then delivered a presentation about SGA Budget Request Packets for the 2013-2014 academic year. She said the budget packet application will be available to organizations on Jan. 14. Organization must complete and submit these forms by Feb. 28.
On March 16 and 17 from 12-7 p.m., the SGA will host question and answer sessions with organizations to discuss their budgets. Budget revisions will take place on March 23 to 24.
Finally, the SGA will vote on the budget packets on April 2.
The next SGA meeting will take place on Tuesday, January 29 in the BC rooms of Lankford Student Union.
