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SGA members passed all six of the resolutions presented at their meeting last night. The longest debates concerned a financial resolution to sponsor a Sigma Phi Epsilon philanthropy project and another initiative to help fund the delivery of free daily newspapers on campus.
Senior Jamaal Crowley of Sigma Phi Epsilon spoke before the senate, requesting $800 from the SGA philanthropy fund to sponsor the fraternity’s upcoming annual “Queen of Hearts” competition, to benefit an AIDS education organization. The recently enlarged SGA philanthropy fund of $1,500 is specifically allotted to aid campus organizations in their charitable projects. In past years, this account has often been left with excess funds at the end of the semester.
Several senators expressed concern because the fraternity was asking for more than 50 percent of the philanthropy budget. Such a large cut into one account would require 75 percent of the senate vote. The resolution eventually passed after it was amended to use $450 from the philanthropy account (less than one-third of the entire budget,) and the other $350 from the SGA “general fund.” This required only a majority vote.
Sigma Phi Epsilon will host its annual Queen of Hearts program on campus Oct. 15 to 20, to benefit YouthAids, a non-profit organization that sponsors AIDS education to young people. The program culminates in a beauty pageant between female students from various sororities and campus organizations.
The $800 from SGA will cover about half of the program’s overhead cost, according to Justin Brown, who wrote the resolution. The remainder will be funded by the fraternity.
SGA members also passed a resolution to co-sponsor free daily newspapers around campus. They voted to award $2,000 from the special programs fund of $22,880 to assist the Housing and Community Living Department in financing this program for one year.
“This initiative grew out of my experience my freshman year, when Pepperdine offered free newspapers in all the dorms and at several key locations,” said SGA President Kevin Mills. “They discontinued this my sophomore year, because the cost was prohibitively high.”
Mills said the program would likely support subscriptions to USA Today and the Los Angeles Times. About 300 newspapers per day, 150 of each, would be delivered to strategic locations on campus, probably the Sandbar, the HAWC, Drescher and Lovernich. The total cost of the program for this year would be about $17,000, according to SGA Vice President of Administration Ryan Harvey. About $15,000 will be covered by Housing and Community Living.
SGA later voted to present to Seaver Dean David Baird a resolution to implement mandatory mid-term evaluations. Mills, who wrote the initiative, argued that mid-term evaluations would support more effective student-faculty relations and aid professors in their teaching methods. Although some senators doubted whether mid-term evaluations would be taken seriously by the student body, the resolution passed overwhelmingly.
SGA also approved three other initiatives, to repair a piece of damaged concrete on Greek Row, to support the Housing Department’s decision to install permanent wire grill brushes at all campus grills, and to fund a $500 volleyball tailgate party on Oct. 12.
The tailgate party will correspond with the Student Programming Board’s “Three Days of Madness” events, leading up to the “Midnight Entourage ” program on Friday, Oct. 13. Midnight Entourage is this year’s theme for the event, which marks the beginning of the NCAA basketball season.
On Wednesday, Oct. 11, SPB will be hosting Derek Webb in concert in the Sandbar at 8:30 p.m. Webb will be speaking at Convocation that morning.
According to Lianne Hope, Coffeehouse Coordinator for SPB, about 500 people attended Webb’s concert when he visited Pepperdine last year.
Submitted 10-05-2006
MALIBU, CA
