Council Bails Out Broke Acapella Group – Council Update (2/14/18)
This past meeting right before February break began with an update from OEC (Organizational Engineering Committee). OEC members stated that they had drafted a motion regarding vaping and had sent it to Ms. Stevenson. The first true thing on the agenda however was the Acapella Money Allocation.
The allocation would for $360.75 to the Acapella club. Co-Treasurer Colm Seigne presented the allocation as he was familiar with the Acapella club and why it needed the money. In his presentation, Rep. Seigne explained that the club already has $2972 in its account but each Acapella group has its own budget with the greater club budget and that Dachords is broke. Seigne explained that Dachords is broke because they go on a trip every year and that this year they went on the trip and then after the fact realized they didn’t have enough money to pay for it so the $360 would go straight to Dachords to pay for the trip. After Junior Representative Elizabeth Napier asked what the money was actually for, Rep. Seigne clarified that it was for a bus fee and some other expenses. Staff Representative Ms. Good took issue with the fact that Dachords was asking for the money after the fact, an issue that she has criticized clubs for in the past. Co-Treasurer Max Taxman agreed with Ms. Good that this shouldn’t happen as much as it has this year and that clubs should plan for big expenses.
Assistant Moderator Jasper Meyer said that Council should give the money to Dachords because Acapella is one of the most active clubs but that it would be look bad if Council allocated money to a club with $2900, so he would not allocate the money until each acapella group was separated into its own club. Sophomore Representative Clay Kynor stated that this was just poor planning and that such planning hasn’t stopped such allocations in the past, directly referencing Council’s previous money allocation to UNICEF club. Altogether, the money allocation passed despite 9 opposing votes and 1 abstention.
Next and last on the agenda was the Intent Bylaw Motion, which has been on the agenda for multiple weeks. The one controversial issue with this motion in Council was that Council would be able to amend the statement of intent at the beginning of a motion, something many Council members found counterintuitive. However, the overall attitude around the motion was positive and Rep. Kynor emphasized that when Council brought back an old motion it would be very helpful to be able to see what the original intent of the motion was. After some debate over Robert’s Rules, Council adjourned, with all members clearly prepared for February break.
