Following the Jan. 21 inclement weather cancellation, the Student Government Association (SGA) reconvened on Tuesday, Jan. 28 in the BC rooms of Lankford Student Union.
SGA President Haley Vest swore in Senator Amanda Chappel and Junior Auditor Darius Christian to begin the meeting.
The Big Event executive board, including Director Kevin Bradtke, visited the Senate to talk about this year's March 29 event. The community service event will last from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Last year, Bradtke said, the number of job sites was 99, one short of the goal of 100. The 2014 goal is 125 job sites.
Bradtke said there is a new sign up system hosted with Eventbrite, which will open on March 1. He said this year’s sign ups are incentive-based. The first 50 volunteers who sign up will receive a long sleeve gray T-shirt, and the first 400 will be entered into a raffle.
Design Lab also designed a brand new logo to, as Bradtke put it, “put a new face on the Big Event,” after featuring the same logo for five years.
Bradtke also encouraged the SGA to sign up to become job site leaders.
Gina DeMarco, marketing assistant for Longwood Dining Services, came to the SGA to advertise the Thursday, Jan. 30 Farmville Area Bus (FAB) to P.O.D. event. The event is meant to promote the P.O.D., the convenience store that accepts Bonus Dollars at Lancer Park, to students who do not live in the apartment community. The first 50 people to show up to the event, which begins at 4 p.m. and ends at 6 p.m, will receive a free T-shirt.
For Vest’s executive report, she announced the Flu Shot Clinic and the Virginia 21 #stopthedrop campaign. For more information on these endeavors, see the SGA’s community submission on page 8.
Regarding the email Dr. Tim Pierson, vice president for Student Affairs and adviser to the SGA, sent to students last Tuesday regarding the Farmville Police Department no longer giving warnings for noise complaints, she said it was meant to protect students who were visiting the houses that have been receiving the noise complaints. She reminded the Senate that everyone should be aware of local laws as well as their rights as a citizen.
In his Adviser’s Report, Pierson explained the reasoning behind the email. He received phone calls from Town Manager Gerry Spates, the FPD, residents and parents regarding noise complaints.
He said the point of the email was to inform students about the police department and the Town of Farmville’s stance on the issue.
He said noise complaints are often regarding loud music and vulgar yelling. He added that he does not believe this is a major issue with students.
Historian Paige Rollins brought forward two amendments to The Rotunda’s constitution.
The amendments included the addition of a social media editor position and specified the responsibilities of Rotunda Studios staff. The motion to approve the amendments passed.
Treasurer Alex Julian proposed several allocations to the SGA on behalf of the Senate Finance Committee (SFC). He moved to allocate $2,722.36 to the Black Student Association (BSA) for a ZuZu dancer, which passed. The motion to allocate $593.60 to Conduct Board also passed.
Julian moved to allocate $1,910.12 to Longwood Ambassadors. Vest made a friendly amendment to reduce the amount to $1,752.60 because the Ambassadors later approached her about no longer needed the original sum due to staying one less night at the hotel they were staying at for their conference.
There was a motion to send four members instead of five because bylaws only allow four members to be funded to attend a conference and Vest said sending five could sent a precedent.
However, the Senate discussed the fact that the conference would provide the Ambassadors’ executive board with a great deal of information. The motion failed and the motion to allocate $1,752.60 passed.
Several more organizations received allocations for conferences, including $3,544 to the Sports Club Council, $2,089.48 to the American Marketing Association, $817.50 to Zeta Phi Beta and $247.11 to the Longwood Dressage Team.
The motion to allocate $5,250 to SGA for Longwood’s upcoming 175th anniversary celebration also passed.
Next Tuesday, those interested in attending an SGA meeting can visit the BC rooms of Lankford Student Union at 3:45 p.m.
