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October 17, 2005 —
The SVSU Student Association created an ad-hoc committee to discuss revising its charter at its Oct. 10 House meeting.
The committee, to be chaired by Parliamentarian Nick Madaj and vice-chaired by representative Reggie Blockett, will consider whether the SA Charter, which was originally drafted in 1996, needs to be revised due to a larger Association.
"This is just an ad-hoc committee," Madaj said, addressing concerns about changing the Charter. "One thing I intend to do is to get as many voices heard as possible."
Blockett advocated the committee and making revisions to the Charter, saying that it did not meet the needs of SA, which has grown "drastically" since it was written.
The resolution to create the committee was approved 22-1.
Representative Kelly Stewart said she felt the Charter, much like a government's constitution, should not be changed.
"You set (a charter) up so that you don't have to change it," said Stewart, who voted in favor of the resolution. "It should not be a regular practice to change it."
The committee is being set up for both those for changing the Charter and those against it, representative Ashley Verner said.
"This isn't just for people who want to make revisions," she said. "If someone is strongly against revising the Charter, they can be on the committee too."
SA also discussed a resolution to purchase new computers for its office. SA currently has four computers.
Representatives seemed to be at a consensus that more were needed, but there were concerns about the resolution, which would have approved spending up to $1,000 on the equipment.
An amendment to the resolution was proposed by Student Concerns chair Brittany Griffin, who felt the spending limit should be increased to $2,500. The proposed new amount was too much for the House to approve.
President Emily Hammerbacher said she felt the money would not be spent wisely.
"Most of the time people in the office are usually doing homework," she explained. "It would be irresponsible to spend more than $1,000 of student money."
Allocations chair Michelle Herbon agreed.
"We max out (registered student organizations) at $1,500 per year for allocations," Herbon said. "It is not appropriate to spend more."
Herbon added that she would like a resolution detailing exactly what was being purchased as opposed to the simple concept of purchasing computers.
Student Nicholas Tereck, a member of the University Residence Association, added during the meeting that any new computers purchased through the University would have to be made by Gateway.
He explained that the computer URA bought cost over $2,000, even though it wanted to purchase one much cheaper.
The House agreed to table the discussion for a later date, most likely the Oct. 24 meeting.
SA meetings are held every other Monday night at 10 p.m. in the Multi-purpose room. The meetings are open to the public.