Fan bus survives untimely death
Vote to postpone bill indefinitely fails
Bob Bajek / Student Government Editor
Issue date: 2/26/09 Section: News
The bill for the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament fan bus was passed after an attack was made on its validity at Wednesday's Student Senate meeting.
Student Senate member Brad Saribekian motioned for postponing the bill indefinitely after disagreement arose on the upcoming vote.
Student Senate member Mark Olendzki seconded Saribekian's motion.
Postponing indefinitely would kill the bill, said Drew Griffin, Student Senate speaker.
The disagreement leading up to the motion stems from Student Senate member Omar Solomon announcing to his senators the bus will be a first-come, first-serve basis for students to gain seats instead of the lottery discussed at last Thursday's Apportionment Board meeting.
The AB passed the bus for $1,593 on the condition the 53 available student seats would be by a random lottery.
Tiffany Turner, student vice president for business affairs, was one of the bill's authors.
However, she said not presenting the first-come, first-serve basis directly to the AB was disrespectful.
"If it is the case, it wasn't proposed to the board that way," Turner said.
Student Body President Levi Bulgar said the bill could go back to the AB and then be voted on at Student Senate's next meeting. The bus, however, will leave at 5 a.m. March 6.
Holding off on the vote would leave little time for WEIU-FM Sports Director John Twork and Eastern athletics to advertise the bus.
Student Senate member Ron Jordan, who is a running back for Eastern's football team, adamantly said the motion to postpone the bill indefinitely was not supporting the athletic department.
Saribekian then interrupted Jordan and said he thought Jordan was attacking him.
Jordan retorted Saribekian's statement, saying that was not the case. Jordan said he wanted to show the other members the motion to postpone was ridiculous.
"If you don't do this, you are not supporting the girls, and, in fact, you are hurting the girls," Jordan said. "And that will hurt the Senate in the eyes of athletes; I'm just going to let you know."
Student Senate member Brittany Wells agreed with Jordan's assessment.
"We talk time after time about doing what the students want," Wells said. "This is what they want. They came here; they talked to us. We talk about campus visibility, how does that make us look."
Wells told the Student Senate if the bill is killed, the action would hurt Student Government's reputation on campus.
"To be a part of Student Government and pull something like this that is important to the student body and our athletic department and me, I don't know if I could be a part of it," Wells said.
Member Mike Hilty pointed out Student Senate was arguing about approving money only to charter a bus.
"It says nothing in this legislation on how they are approving it, but I support the bus," Hilty said.
When the vote for postponing the bill indefinitely came, only Saribekian and Olendzki voted for killing the bill. Returning for an affirmative vote, the legislation passed 21-0-2.
Olendzki abstained while Saribekian reversed his stance and voted yes.
In other business, the allocations for the Student Recreational Center and the Student Teacher Interaction Program passed with strong majorities.
Bob Bajek can be reached at 581-7942 or at rtbajek@eiu.edu.
Student Senate member Brad Saribekian motioned for postponing the bill indefinitely after disagreement arose on the upcoming vote.
Student Senate member Mark Olendzki seconded Saribekian's motion.
Postponing indefinitely would kill the bill, said Drew Griffin, Student Senate speaker.
The disagreement leading up to the motion stems from Student Senate member Omar Solomon announcing to his senators the bus will be a first-come, first-serve basis for students to gain seats instead of the lottery discussed at last Thursday's Apportionment Board meeting.
The AB passed the bus for $1,593 on the condition the 53 available student seats would be by a random lottery.
Tiffany Turner, student vice president for business affairs, was one of the bill's authors.
However, she said not presenting the first-come, first-serve basis directly to the AB was disrespectful.
"If it is the case, it wasn't proposed to the board that way," Turner said.
Student Body President Levi Bulgar said the bill could go back to the AB and then be voted on at Student Senate's next meeting. The bus, however, will leave at 5 a.m. March 6.
Holding off on the vote would leave little time for WEIU-FM Sports Director John Twork and Eastern athletics to advertise the bus.
Student Senate member Ron Jordan, who is a running back for Eastern's football team, adamantly said the motion to postpone the bill indefinitely was not supporting the athletic department.
Saribekian then interrupted Jordan and said he thought Jordan was attacking him.
Jordan retorted Saribekian's statement, saying that was not the case. Jordan said he wanted to show the other members the motion to postpone was ridiculous.
"If you don't do this, you are not supporting the girls, and, in fact, you are hurting the girls," Jordan said. "And that will hurt the Senate in the eyes of athletes; I'm just going to let you know."
Student Senate member Brittany Wells agreed with Jordan's assessment.
"We talk time after time about doing what the students want," Wells said. "This is what they want. They came here; they talked to us. We talk about campus visibility, how does that make us look."
Wells told the Student Senate if the bill is killed, the action would hurt Student Government's reputation on campus.
"To be a part of Student Government and pull something like this that is important to the student body and our athletic department and me, I don't know if I could be a part of it," Wells said.
Member Mike Hilty pointed out Student Senate was arguing about approving money only to charter a bus.
"It says nothing in this legislation on how they are approving it, but I support the bus," Hilty said.
When the vote for postponing the bill indefinitely came, only Saribekian and Olendzki voted for killing the bill. Returning for an affirmative vote, the legislation passed 21-0-2.
Olendzki abstained while Saribekian reversed his stance and voted yes.
In other business, the allocations for the Student Recreational Center and the Student Teacher Interaction Program passed with strong majorities.
Bob Bajek can be reached at 581-7942 or at rtbajek@eiu.edu.
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Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Seriously?
posted 2/26/09 @ 9:56 AM CST
Seriously! Kudos to the Senators that rose in support of the fan bus. At the end of the day, how much does it matter if it is lottery or first-come. What is the thought with having a lottery? Let's let folks make it a priority by making it first-come. (Continued…)
John
posted 2/26/09 @ 11:55 AM CST
Good choice to let the bill pass. Too bad it had to be a lottery and couldn't have been a first come first serve thing. The two senators who choose to make a dog and pony show out of this were being idiots. (Continued…)
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