ASUI Director of Traditions, Starlina Davis requested $288 dollars for Kindness week events during last week, April 8. ASUI senate meeting. The $288 dollars is an excess request to the additional $287 dollars the event has received from the ASUI Cabinet, creating a total of $575. This money will go towards gift cards, goodie bags for faculty and staff, and prizing for the food drive occurring throughout the week.
All food collected by the contest will be donated to the Vandal Food Pantry, and the winning Greek Life and Multi-Cultural Greek house will each receive a $150 reward to be donated to a charity of their choice.
“By providing a meaningful reward, we can motivate higher participation and ultimately increasing donations and making a greater impact on those in need. This investment not only supports student engagement but also advances charitable missions that many campus groups are deeply committed to.” Said Senator Andrea Leal, who sponsored the bill.
This bill was passed, and there is a table collecting food for the contest in the ISUB on Wednesday, April 15 from 12:30 till 2:30. Any student, no matter affiliation, is able to donate food to this table to support the Vandal Food Pantry.
During public forum, 9 representatives from the Men’s Vandal Rugby Club, including Tim Hebdon, David Matinez, and Ryder Haynes, introduced their funding bill S26-B17.
The club asked for $855 to replace old equipment and purchase a year’s worth of medical tape for their games and practices.
“Rugby is a contact sport. There is a lot of injuries that happen, last week at our tournament, one of our members actually tore his ACL and MCL, I’ve broken my hand playing rugby. There’s a lot of testimonies to the brutality of the sport, but I think that’s why this is such an important bill for the club and the university. Not only taking care of students, but athletes,” said sponsor of the bill, Sen. Saul Lorenzana.
The bill was passed and skipped review by the Finance Committee, which is unusual for ASUI Senate.
“I move to previous question because I think, great cause, great breakdown of funding, love what they have to say, buy I want to make sure everyone knows, like you can always disagree with previous question, too. If you want to talk about a bill, you don’t have to vote in support of it [Previous question],” said Sen. Charlie Peacock.
A Cinco De Mayo event will be held during finals fest and bill S26-B19 is requesting $500 to provide stipends for Florico dancers, and cover costs for food, decorations, and event supplies. This bill was written by Senate Pro-Tempore Jullissa McDowell, who’s grandfather’s mariachi band, will be preforming at the event.
“This event is really something that is important to me, just because it has been something that me and Erica [Amaral, Director of Internal Affairs] have been working on for about two years. It has been really hard to try and find a time for the mariachi to come up here, and I will note I am very proud that this is my grandpa’s own mariachi band.” Said McDowell during debate on this bill.
This bill was passed, and the event date will be released later this month.
Bill S26-B13 for the Business professionals of America chapter at UI was passed, giving $1000 to help the club give students access to career advancement, leadership, professional development, and hands-on experience. This funding will directly go towards costs of their trip to a national conference.
Another funding bill for Barker Trading Club, S26-B14, was passed, giving an amended $1,400 to the club. The amendment comes from the Finance Committee, headed by Sen. Frances Camilli.
“The finance committee does recognize the value that the program provides, which is why in our decision we wanted to maintain the core of funding request and its purpose, so it can still have a positive impact,” said Camilli.
A bill introduced at last week’s meeting, giving $500 dollars to Amnesty International, was tabled indefinitely, due to Sen. Logan Romans receiving communication that the club would not be able to use the funding before the end of the semester. Amnesty International communicated that they would ask again for funding next semester.
The UI chapter of the National Society of Black engineers funding bill request for $500 dollars to pay for half of the Vandal Ballroom reservation was also passed.
ASUI Senate meetings are open to the public and are held on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. in the Clearwater-Whitewater room of the ISUB.
Josie Adjanohoun can be reached at [email protected].