By Jocelyn Fowler
Reporter
The Student Senate had a very productive meeting Thursday evening.
Houston senior Blessing Amune presented the Miss Phi Iota Alpha Pageant bill. Phi Iota Alpha has requested almost $5,000 to help cover event cost for its 12th Annual Miss Phi I.A. pageant. Senators passed the legislation in a vote of 34-2.
“I think the bill went really well,” said Amune. “We’re very happy to fund any initiatives that go toward providing scholarships for Baylor students.”
West Des Moines, Iowa senior Kelly Rapp, student body president, presented the budget for the Student Government. With no objections from the senators present, Rapp passed his budget plan of nearly $20,000 to cover the expenses of the Student Government. The budget covers things such as office supplies and projects sponsored by student government officials, such as Passport to Waco from the external vice president’s office and the Thanksgiving dinner hosted by the sophomore class.
The Student Senate also passed the Fright Night 2012 bill with a vote of 35-1. Phi Gamma Delta and Delta Delta Delta, who host the event, requested an allocation amount of 29.7 percent of the total event cost, amounting to a little over $6,500, to help pay for their annual haunted house. Sugar Land senior Cody Orr, a co- author of the bill, said the senators were won over by a good event, a worthy cause and a well-done budget.
“Fright Night is one my favorite events on campus to go to,” Orr said. “I’m glad I had the opportunity to write the allocation for it. I think it’s a really good budget. They should have strong attendance and they should have a really healthy donation to Young Life.” Young Life is the beneficiary of the event’s philanthropy.
The final bill presented to the Student Senate was the Spare Change for Student Scholarships bill, co-authored by Dallas junior Connor Mighell and Rockwall senior Nick Pokorny.
The legislation proposed a campaign that would involve setting up jars around campus that students would be able to put their spare change into. All money deposited into the jars would be consolidated into funds for the President’s Scholarship Initiative.
After a period of debate, senators passed the legislation in a vote of 25-11. Mighell said he was very glad the senate decided to support Baylor’s efforts.
He believes the program will bring awareness to the President’s Scholarship Initiative and foster a “culture of giving.” Rapp backed Mighell and Pokorny, calling the legislation a “step in the right direction.”
Other senators were not so pleased. Senators in the opposing camp worried the project would require too much effort, wouldn’t yield a significant contribution, ultimately resulting in a backlash.
San Augustine freshman Chase Hensley was one of those senators.
“I just feel that the student body wants to hear more about people giving to them,” Hensley said. “They want to feel that there are people outside of Baylor who care rather than having to give money and their spare change to support themselves when they’re already struggling so much.”
