Cheer squad receives raise in scholarships
Utah State University’s Cheer Squad will receive an extra $2,400 in scholarships next year from an amendment made to the 2002-2003 Associated Students of Utah State University’s budget. Currently, USU’s 24 member Cheer Squad is extremely underpaid for the amount of work they do and service they provide the university, said Mike Brockbrader, Organizations and Traditions vice president, in Tuesday’s Executive Council meeting. Before approving the 2002-2003 ASUSU budget next year, an amendment should be made to increase the Cheer Squad’s scholarships they receive from ASUSU by $50, he said. He said this should be done for several reasons, such as having to spend money to buy food at away games, buying equipment and uniform clothing and for other costs coming with the position. Brockbrader said he even knew a friend who was a member of the Cheer Squad for USU and had to drop out because he couldn’t support himself financially. They put in double the amount of hours ASUSU does, he said. “This is just a drop in the pond for their needs, but I see this as a fair step in the right direction,” he said. John Navarrete, Education senator, said what Brockbrader is proposing is a two-tier idea for raising their scholarships. ASUSU can afford to raise it by $50 this year and it could possibly be raised again next year. Brockbrader said, “We’re taking baby steps and the solution is far more than what we have, but it’s what we can do for now.” The Executive Council voted on the amendment regarding the budget and it passed. In other business, ASUSU also passed a bill to give public relations $4,900 out of the Capitol and Support fund to build a new Web site. Camey Hatch, public relations vice president, said the reason ASUSU should spend money on a new professional Web site is for several reasons, such as the Web is the number one source of information for students, ASUSU can post upcoming events and students can directly contact ASUSU members and leave questions and comments. The proposal includes hiring an already approved professional Web designer, Hatch said, costing $50 an hour and will build the Web site for the estimated $4,900. “We can also use the same technology the university has, which means our Web site is connected to USU’s site, which is a good thing,” she said. However, Kelly Mendenhall, Extensions vice president, said he was concerned a new ASUSU Web site would not incur enough hits and would not get the response from students ASUSU is projecting. Charles Thompson, the university’s webmaster, said USU’s Web site receives an average of 350 hits per second and ASUSU’s current Web site receives an estimated 1,000 hits per day. Camey said she and her committee plans to publicize the site through avenues such as giving out magnets with the Web site on them and sending ASUSU brochures about the site to incoming students. Lindsay Lyman, Activities vice president, said, “This is a fabulous way for people to know who ASUSU is and get to us when they need to.” The Executive Council voted on the bill and it passed with one descending vote.