The Student Government Association’s approved resolution to have a moment of silence at the commencement ceremony for students who have passed away in during the 2010-11 academic year was denied.
SGA chair Jonathan Moody, psychology junior, said the administration decided having such a somber moment was not appropriate at an event meant to celebrate student’s academic achievements.
SGA pro-temp Matt Owen, political science sophomore, said he was frustrated.
“I am very disappointed with the result of our resolution,” Owen said.
The SGA discussed other options for honoring those students who had died, such as planting a tree on campus.
SGA senator Josh Sesar, secondary education and math senior, specifically mentioned Sandy Turpin, general studies senior, who died on March 29.
Sesar said Turpin had been involved in the SGA and had contributed a lot. He said she was a key player in starting the annual Campus Beautification Day, in which the SGA will participate on April 20.
Sesar said she was a wonderful person to a lot of people, and he said she should be remembered somehow on campus.
The SGA also discussed how to best represent student’s needs regarding the proposed mandatory meal plans on campus to Dana Wavle, vice chancellor of Administrative Affairs.
Moody announced to the SGA what he and others are trying to accomplish in a special committee regarding this issue. Moody said they are surveying students in an attempt to discern if a meal plan would be a popular and viable option for IU Southeast.
The survey asks students if they are a resident or non-resident to start out with. The committee is taking into account that many students commute to campus and assuming those commuter students might not use Dining Services and would not need a meal plan.
There was discussion about proposing a meal plan only for the students in the dorms. Moody and others led a focus group of resident students, asking them to comment on the possibility of a mandatory plan.
Most students said the main argument against a meal plan was they all have kitchens in their dorm rooms and wouldn’t necessarily need to go to the Food Court unless they wanted to.
Seuth Chaleunphonh, dean of Student Life, said the mandatory meal plan would benefit the campus in two ways. First, it would allot a specific amount of money for food services every semester. Conference and Catering — knowing this money was coming in from mandatory meal plans — could plan and execute better renovations and improvements with that money.
Sesar said he understood the business aspect of the meal plan.
“[But] as the SGA, we should see the student aspect — not IUS’s,” Sesar said.
SGA president-elect Josh Kornberg, communications junior, said he didn’t think it would be fair to force students to buy meals on campus, especially because Conference and Catering is not part of the campus as a business — it stands alone as a separate company. Kornberg compared it to forcing students to buy a meal plan for McDonald’s.
SGA senator Bronson Bast, high school senior, said he didn’t think a mandatory meal plan would improve the quality of the food on campus.
“Dining Services won’t have incentive to increase their quality of food or marketing because they would be guaranteed a mandatory market,” Bast said.
SGA senator James Bonsall, business senior, asked the committee to suggest a waiver or appeals process for students who have food allergies.
The SGA also approved two bills. The first bill was to allot $50 of startup money to the new campus group, Sigma-Lambda Upsilon. The second bill set aside $500 to buy an ad promoting the SGA on the inside back cover of the 2011-12 IUS Student Planner.
By MICHELE HOP
Staff
mhop@ius.edu
