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At the Jan. 25 meeting of the University of Maine Student Government, senators tabled an amendment to the body’s constitution that would have created a new vice president of external affairs, citing concerns the organization was unnecessarily moving ahead of itself.
The senate also approved more than $23,600 in club allocations to fund travel and lodging for multiple clubs’ events.
Sponsored by Student Body President Nelson Carson, the legislation called for the creation of a new ex-officio member of the senate whose duties merged the jobs of the currently vacant technology manager with that of the director of external affairs (DEA).
The new VPEA would have updated the Student Government website, www.umainesg.com, acted as a public relations representative with local businesses and organizations, and have created informational handouts to alert students about on-campus events. In addition, a new External Affairs Committee would have been created to assist the VPEA.
If passed, the amendment would have to be sent to a referendum vote by UMaine students. Carson explained the creation of the position was expedient in order for Student Government to quickly move ahead and construct a website to reach out to students.
“The VPEA will need at least 10 office hours a week just to contact local businesses, update the website, plus flyers — his job is going to be to make sure the students really know what UMSG is about,” he said.
Sen. Mark Brunton agreed.
“I think what President Carson is proposing is an accountable, executive-level position that we can all turn to and say, ‘This website needs improvement,’” Brunton said.
Not all senators shared Carson’s vision. Sen. Alex Ortiz called the DEA and technology manager positions “some of the least effective,” believing that combining the two jobs would only compound difficulties by pushing the senate into uncharted territory.
“If you put the two together and then expect that, by telling them a few new things to do, that all of a sudden they’re going to utilize this new position and it’s going to be so amazing and worthwhile is just too far of a stretch for my mind,” Ortiz said.
With the “jump” of adding the new position, Ortiz feared there would be no precedent for the VPEA to follow. Instead, he favored a “slow, gradual” addition of tasks to the DEA’s duties. That way, he said, the senate could monitor the interaction between student organizations and the DEA and see if the new position was warranted.
Sen. Kristina McTigue echoed Ortiz’s concerns.
“I disagree in going into it easily — I think we need to try it and go slowly with it. Then, if it works, and this is what we want to do, make it an executive position — but only after we know that it’s successful, not beforehand,” McTigue said.
The amendment to the constitution then failed. After the senate’s decision, Sen. Jose Roman said it would be difficult for the DEA to make an impact on the student body without the amendment’s changes in place.
“In order for us to affect the people outside this room and make them believe that we’re not just a bunch of political science kids who get all uppity once a week and hang out with each other, we have to prove to ourselves that we are more than just that,” he said.
After the meeting, Carson said he had received the senate’s message.
“In the end, the senate made a great decision. It’s the job of senate to keep myself in check,” he said. “I thought the position should have been created, for necessity reasons, but rationality is telling me that we can work with what we already have instead of amending the constitution.”
In other SG news, the senate also approved nine allocations totaling $24,630.88:
- One resolution passed allocated $1,026.88 to Ryan Gavin for the creation of a new Student Government website. According to Carson, SG websites in the past have cost some $20,000 to maintain and the process of contracting the work to build a new one out to an independent company would cost between $3,000 and $14,000. Nelson argued that hiring Gavin, who has designed websites for other organizations in the past, would be a convenient move, saving senate time and money.
- Some senators questioned the bill’s timeliness – McTigue pointed out that the senate had just rejected an amendment to create a position to oversee the current SG website. Carson, however, explained the new website would be user-friendly and SG executives would have an easy task of updating its content with the installment of a technology manager. Carson noted the website should be completed before the end of February 2011.
- Men’s Club Lacrosse was allocated $5,000 for lodging and motorpool to fund five trips for away games in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York.
- UMaine Cheerleading received $4,400 to cover airfare for the 2011 National College Association Collegiate National Cheerleading Championship, where they will be competing against other cheerleading squads from around the nation.
- The Alpine Ski Team was allocated $4,024 for 12 of its members to attend upcoming United States Colligate Ski and Snowboard Association races held in Maine and New Hampshire from Feb. 22-27. $2,940 will be used for entry fees, $500 for regional compensation, and $500 for lodging and $84 for travel expenses.
- The InterVarsity Christian Fellowship was allocated $2,875 for 23 of its members to take part in the Katrina Relief Urban Plunge in New Orleans, La., from Feb. 26 to Mar. 6. $2,300 will be used for registration and $575 for lodging.
- Rotaract, which stands for “Rotary in Action” and seeks to develop leaders through service projects, received $2,450 to attend the group’s spring break service trip in Oakland, Calif., from Feb. 26 to Mar. 5. The funds will cover airfare ($1,200), lodging ($750) and rental car insurance ($500).
- The Ultimate Frisbee Team was allocated $2,300 for a tournament in Brunswick, Ga., from Mar. 7-11. The money will cover the tournament fee ($500) and lodging ($1,800).
- Maine Masque was allocated $1,455 for their production of the play “Speech and Debate,” to be held in Hauck Auditorium from April 6-10. The allocation will be used for lighting ($1,000), play rights ($410) and scripts ($45). The event is free to UMaine students.
- The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers was funded $1,100 for five of its members to attend the National ASHREA Conference in Las Vegas from Jan. 28 to Feb. 2. The money will go toward registration ($100) and airfare ($1,000).
- Funding to the International Students Association for $3,500 was postponed a week after a representative for the group failed to attend the meeting.
SG also swore in a new member, Rebekah Dunham, as the newest UMSG senator. Vice President of Student Entertainment Patrick Nabozny announced a bid of roughly $5,000 had been forwarded for a fireworks show during Winter Carnival. The fireworks show is scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m. Feb. 12 before the men’s ice hockey game between the Black Bears and the University of Vermont Catamounts, according to the UMaine website.
