The Student Assembly held its last meeting of the semester Tuesday, approving four pieces of business and confirming three new members of the Public Affairs committee.
Sen. Grace Colby ’13 announced that the Hindu Student Association exceeded its previously approved budget for the Diwali event due to unexpected catering costs. The association asked the Student Assembly to retroactively fund the difference, amounting to about $200. Some senators spoke out against retroactively funding the association.
“Retroactive funding is not something we normally do,” Colby said. “[The Finance Committee] felt that it was an oversight by the club.”
A majority of senators, however, felt that the association did not need to be punished for the mistake.
“It’s not really our place to punish student organizations for their missteps,” Sen. Ben Huber ’12 said.
In the end, the SA voted in favor of allocating the necessary funds to cover the unforeseen costs for the association.
The SA also passed the Chillaxin’ All the Time Act, which allocates $6,000 from the Student Activities Reserve to fund the rental and running of four massage chairs in Swem for the next calendar year.
The massage chairs will be free to students.
“Last year we had massage chairs in Swem for $10,000 during finals,” McNerney said in an email. “I worked with Campus Massage, the company that we rented them from last year, and negotiated the price. The Student Assembly will now be renting massage chairs in Swem for the entire year for $6,000. This was a highly popular program last year so I’m glad that we will be continuing it. In a survey last year more than 90% of people said they wanted to have them continued.”
The SA also unanimously passed the Tables, Chairs, and Van Training Act, providing $2,000 for chairs and tables for student events and $3,320 for van training for students.
“This bill pays for things students use like tables and chairs at their activities and van training,” Colby said.
Next, the SA unanimously approved the Student Organization Outreach Act, implementing changes to the Student Assembly Code in order to monitor where student organizations spend the funds they are given more effectively.
This act only affects student organizations that receive more than 25 percent of the annual budget, which currently pertains only to AMP.
“We’re more interested in seeing how money is being spent as you go rather than the planning process,” Colby said.
The SA also unanimously confirmed Keenan Kelley ’14 as the new Secretary of Public Affairs, Zach Woodward ’14 as the new Undersecretary of Voter Registration Events and Initiatives and Alison Roberts ’15 as the new Deputy Undersecretary of Voter Registration Events and Initiatives.