Very little discussion ensued Wednesday night as the ASUO Student Senate granted the Multicultural Center $10,000 from the general surplus — nearly one-sixth of what remains in the surplus for the rest of the year.
The funds are to help pay for speakers during the MCC’s Dr. Edwin Coleman Speakers Conference, set to take place April 18-22.
“A lot of our … conferences have needed a little bit of help from us,” Senate President Peter Watts said. “I really think it’s important for us to give groups the money they need for a first-class conference.”
The only questions came from Sen. Jennifer Greenough, who asked whether the extra funds the MCC had been expecting last week for the conference ever materialized.
MCC representatives answered “no,” saying that they had tried every place they could and had probably received all the response they were going to.
Even so, Greenough voted against the request so that it could be recalled if the MCC suddenly got more money.
Another special request — this one from PERMIAS — caused a bit more of a stir.
The group requested $600 from the senate for its upcoming Indonesian culture night. But Greenough pointed out the incidental fee money cannot be used to fund events where a profit will be made. The PERMIAS culture night, she said, was marked as such an event.
“I just don’t think we can approve this by our own rules,” Greenough said.
No one was sure, however, so a five-minute recess was called to investigate the matter.
A PERMIAS representative said the food was free, and that the only thing the group planned to charge for was entrance to the event. She added that the group intended only to break even and would not be putting much — if any — money into its fundraising account.
After hearing the explanation, Greenough said she could see how the situation was different. The request passed with 12 senators in favor and four senators opposed.
In other business, Sen. Kate Kranzush will take over as senate
treasurer following the resignation of Sen. Greg Zimel, who withdrew from school earlier this week. As a result, one seat on the senate has opened up again.
The senate was also supposed to discuss signing a resolution that opposes a federal financial aid act barring convicted drug felons from receiving aid.
It did not, however, because no one ever submitted the question to the senate rules committee for legal approval.