The Student Government Association met last Tuesday and spent the majority of their time discussing the BUC Fund consent calendar.Items on the consent calendar included a request from The Well asking for funds to bring “Toy Story 3” to campus, another from the skydiving club asking for funds to bring a vertical wind tunnel to campus, and the Forensics and Debate club asking for funds to bring a public speaking competition to the university.
After Senators Vince Carroll and Zack Walden listed the items from the calendar, there was a time of discussion about certain organizations that had asked for funding.
Among these were the funds asked for by the SGA and the Skydiving Club.
The Skydiving Club recommendation was a topic of debate because of the amount – over $4,000. The Skydiving Club had requested $6,150 and received $5,710. The event, that is scheduled for Nov. 1, will bring a vertical wind tunnel to campus.
The SGA recommendation for funding was debated because SGA’s requests have receive a two-thirds majority vote in order for the funding to pass.
The SGA requested funding to send 15 of its members to the Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislation. At this event, members will learn parliamentary procedures as well as bring back ideas for legislation to implement on campus.
The SGA agreed to fund the TISL trip with $2,610.
In total, SGA voted to allocate $21,970 to be used by various organizations on campus with little to no debate during the meeting.
Carroll, who saw the presentations of the organizations and their reasons for requesting funds, said it was because many groups had solid reasons for why they need the funding.
“The main reason was because of the quality of presentations and applications,” Carroll said. “The committee saw them all as legitimate and deserving.”
The meeting with the organizations and SGA members, which lasted around three hours, gave the organizations the opportunity to say why they need BUC Funding and its support from a financial standpoint.
After the group votes on the requested funding, that recommendation is brought to the entire SGA for debate and a vote on the final amount.
Sen. Brian Bowman had mixed feeling at the assurance of where this money was going.
“I do know that the money went out fast,” Bowman said. “And that was because the applications were good.
“We don’t make decisions on content,” Bowman said. “We make decisions on whether or not they meet the criteria.
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