ASUSU gives club $1,000
A bill that would give $1,000 to the Eastern European Student Union (EESU) was almost rejected by the Associated Students of Utah State University on Tuesday.
When the council voted on the bill, President Duke Di Stefano accidentally miscounted the number of abstaining votes and announced that the motion to pass the bill had been defeated.
After recounting the votes, however, it was found that the bill did pass eight to five. Education Senator Jennifer Minchey and Natural Resources Senator Scott Shine abstained from the vote.
The bill gives the money to the new student club that will allow the students to begin financing their planned activities, said Diversity Vice President Angie Hammond.
The EESU formed after the start of this fiscal year and was not able to receive the money that other multicultural clubs receive from Multicultural Student Services (MSS).
The EESU will receive funding from MSS in future years.
Engineering Senator Adam Jones said he didn’t necessarily not support the bill, but thought $1,000 was too much money.
“I think it’s an excessive amount to give a starting club,” Jones said. “I think maybe $500 would be an appropriate amount.”
Student Advocate Vice President Les Essig echoed Jones’ thoughts by saying the amount requested was high for a club that had just formed, even though he understood the needs clubs have in getting started.
Other officers spoke in favor of the bill.
“I am in total support of this, I think it’s a great thing to celebrate diversity on campus, on a campus that is not very diverse,” said Graduate Studies Vice President Stephanie Kukic.
Arts and Lectures Vice President Bethany Youngs said she supports giving the money to the club because they have been visibly active on campus, even though they have only been formed for a short time.
When it looked like the bill had been defeated, Hammond said it hit her like a shot in the chest.
“Anytime you write a bill, it’s pretty personal, diversity is something that is personal to me,” she said. “[I was thinking] ‘what am I going to tell EESU?'”
Hammond said she is happy the bill passed but is concerned as to why people would oppose it.
The EESU has $6,000 worth of activities planned, Hammond said. The club will use fundraisers and donations to raise the rest of the needed funds.
Get your phone book
Di Stefano announced that the new student directories have arrived. ASUSU has 10,000 directories that must be distributed in the next week.
He said the phone books will be handed out at all Homecoming activities during the coming week, but students who are not able to find a copy of the book will be able to pick them up in Taggart Student Center, Room 326.
Student input successful
Kukic told the council that the parking committee meeting last week was a success. She said meetings will be held again in the future that include student input on other issues like the bookstore and Food Services.
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