Spring Break
Student Senate to vote after confusion
Emergency proposal needed to approve conference
Bob Bajek / Student Government Editor
Issue date: 1/14/09 Section: News
Student Senate will vote on an emergency proposal today to correct a misunderstanding.
The emergency proposal is needed to get the expenses for the Illinois Board of Higher Education-Student Advisory Committee conference approved.
Student Senate Speaker Drew Griffin said it would be voted on immediately after discussion, bypassing being tabled for a week.
"The whole situation was kind of frustrating," Griffin said. "I hated that we had to work and make decisions so quickly on something as detailed as a conference."
Student Body President Levi Bulgar said IBHE-SAC chair William Obuchowski said there was a communication error with the Illinois Board of Higher Education on the date of the conference. It was moved up a week from Jan. 31-Feb. 1 to Jan. 24-25.
"IBHE submitted the wrong date and time," Bulgar said. "What (Obuchowski) told me was a week off. We have to deal with it."
With the date change, Bulgar gave the bill to Ceci Brinker, Student Government adviser, to sign. Griffin said the Senate did not see the document until Brinker gave it to him.
"The only thing I was confused on was why she saw the document before us," Griffin said. "I think it was in the name to save time and not being malicious at all. I wish either myself or (Isaac Sandidge) as past speaker would've seen this document to help with planning and prep the senate to know about voting on money for the conference."
He believes Bulgar was not trying to bypass the Student Senate members' authority by going to Brinker.
"It wasn't one of those things where it was intentional on his part," Griffin said. "I think planning was put off a little too long and there wasn't enough communication.
"It is an unfortunate situation that could've been alleviated had we worked on this sooner."
Griffin said Student Government knew about a possible date change since November and should have gotten other preparations like the allocation of funds completed.
Bulgar said he did not bypass the Student Senate's power.
He said the "unofficial" document had to go to Brinker.
"The bill didn't go to Ceci," Bulgar said. "It was a bill order. It was a tentative order for the food. We had to get it to Panther Dining to reserve a place in the Union. It is (better) to be safe than sorry. Ceci had to look over it to make sure that it was for Student Government and sign it to look official. University functions look for signatures and validation of an adviser for an on-campus event."
Bulgar said the bill is around $1,300. Food will cost $1,052. Labor, which is for a student opening the conference door in the Doudna Fine Arts Center for the IBHE-SAC members, will be $50 to $60. The rest of the projected expenses will be diverted to printing meeting agendas and maps of Eastern. This is the first time since 2005 that Student Government has hosted an IBHE-SAC conference on campus.
In other business, Ron Jordan will be sworn into the Student Senate. He was elected last semester, but was not able to attend the Dec. 10 meeting.
Student Senate meets at 7 p.m. in the Arcola/Tuscola Room, located on the third floor of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.
Bob Bajek can be reached at 581-7942 or at rtbajek@eiu.edu.
The emergency proposal is needed to get the expenses for the Illinois Board of Higher Education-Student Advisory Committee conference approved.
Student Senate Speaker Drew Griffin said it would be voted on immediately after discussion, bypassing being tabled for a week.
"The whole situation was kind of frustrating," Griffin said. "I hated that we had to work and make decisions so quickly on something as detailed as a conference."
Student Body President Levi Bulgar said IBHE-SAC chair William Obuchowski said there was a communication error with the Illinois Board of Higher Education on the date of the conference. It was moved up a week from Jan. 31-Feb. 1 to Jan. 24-25.
"IBHE submitted the wrong date and time," Bulgar said. "What (Obuchowski) told me was a week off. We have to deal with it."
With the date change, Bulgar gave the bill to Ceci Brinker, Student Government adviser, to sign. Griffin said the Senate did not see the document until Brinker gave it to him.
"The only thing I was confused on was why she saw the document before us," Griffin said. "I think it was in the name to save time and not being malicious at all. I wish either myself or (Isaac Sandidge) as past speaker would've seen this document to help with planning and prep the senate to know about voting on money for the conference."
He believes Bulgar was not trying to bypass the Student Senate members' authority by going to Brinker.
"It wasn't one of those things where it was intentional on his part," Griffin said. "I think planning was put off a little too long and there wasn't enough communication.
"It is an unfortunate situation that could've been alleviated had we worked on this sooner."
Griffin said Student Government knew about a possible date change since November and should have gotten other preparations like the allocation of funds completed.
Bulgar said he did not bypass the Student Senate's power.
He said the "unofficial" document had to go to Brinker.
"The bill didn't go to Ceci," Bulgar said. "It was a bill order. It was a tentative order for the food. We had to get it to Panther Dining to reserve a place in the Union. It is (better) to be safe than sorry. Ceci had to look over it to make sure that it was for Student Government and sign it to look official. University functions look for signatures and validation of an adviser for an on-campus event."
Bulgar said the bill is around $1,300. Food will cost $1,052. Labor, which is for a student opening the conference door in the Doudna Fine Arts Center for the IBHE-SAC members, will be $50 to $60. The rest of the projected expenses will be diverted to printing meeting agendas and maps of Eastern. This is the first time since 2005 that Student Government has hosted an IBHE-SAC conference on campus.
In other business, Ron Jordan will be sworn into the Student Senate. He was elected last semester, but was not able to attend the Dec. 10 meeting.
Student Senate meets at 7 p.m. in the Arcola/Tuscola Room, located on the third floor of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.
Bob Bajek can be reached at 581-7942 or at rtbajek@eiu.edu.
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