By Fu’una Sanz and Ari Santos
For Triton’s Call
The 54th Student Government Association met for their fifth regular session of the semester on Oct. 23, 2015.
Several bills were discussed and passed.
Included among the bills passed was Bill 54-27, which designates a Thanksgiving luncheon, canned-food drive, and cornucopia decorating contest to be held this month.
The Thanksgiving luncheon will be open for all students of the university. It will be held on Saturday, Nov. 21, at the Calvo Field House from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. The Inetnon Gefpa’go Chapter of UOG will also be performing that day as part of the entertainment for the students.
Another measure of the bill includes hosting a canned-food drive. This drive will help facilitate the donation of canned-foods to the families and people around the island who may not have the luxury of a Thanksgiving luncheon.
“It’s really nice giving back to the island community, especially helping those in need,” said SGA Treasurer Kevin Balajadia. “Our student government association is always looking for acts to benefit not just the campus, but the community as well.”
An added bonus to the bill is the cornucopia decorating contest hosted by SGA.
Cornucopias will be decorated and judged and a secret prize will go to the winner of the best decorated cornucopia.
Balajadia is pleased to have a cornucopia decorating contest as a way for students to become more active and involved with the activities that the SGA provides for them.
He feels it is a fun way for students to participate and have some Triton spirit.
“These activities are just a few of what we do for the student community on campus,” said Balajadia. “We love to have an active student body.”
With 13 votes in favor of Bill 54-27, it passed unanimously.
Bill 54-02 was also discussed during the meeting. Regarding this bill, SGA President Jericho Tobias said, in order to make it fair for all organizations, SGA can no longer pay for the entire event of a student organization.
Instead, SGA urges that student organizations help in sharing the cost for their event, while SGA will assist financially by alleviating some of the cost up to the sum of $500 each month under Bill 54-02.
According to Tobias, the process in seeking financial assistance from SGA has four steps.
First, student organizations are asked to provide a letter of request, providing an outline of the purpose for the event and a budget breakdown. The budget breakdown should include the amount requested from SGA will go towards, and the amount that the student organization would be covering.
Second, the letter of request should be emailed to uog.sga54@gmail.com, or given to one of the SGA senators.
Third, an SGA senator will write up a bill based on the letter for request, and will introduce the new bill during the next SGA meeting.
The senators ask that at least one member of the requesting organization be present to clarify the purpose of the event if questions were to arise.
Lastly, the bill is put to a vote, and passes so long as the majority votes for it.
This semester, SGA helped fund The English Society’ English and Communication Meet and Greet held in September. SGA also helped fund the Public Administration and Legal Studies’ Zombie Pandemic event on October.
“It is not limited to one student organization, but it is on a first-come, first-serve basis,” said Tobias.
“If one SO asks for $250, then there is $250 left for any other SO. If one SO asks for the whole amount, then it would be reserved for them.”