New Groups Recognized
Seven new groups were recognized at last Friday’s meeting of the Board of Student Organizations (BSO). These groups were Student Nurses Organization, Association of Visual Artists, Classic Student Organization, Multi-Cultural Student Affairs Center, Model United Nations Club, Criminology Students Association and Undergraduate Social Work.
New Constitution
Jonathan Williams proposed a revised constitution. This new document will not be voted on until the next BSO meeting. Williams said, “I thought we needed a working document.”
Speak Up
In a proposal for $500 requested by Gina Capra and Dorn McMahon, Speak Up! was presented to the BSO. Speak Up!, which is the collective work of Capra and McMahon, is a campaign for non-violence. The goal for this campaign is for it to work with all parts of USM and campus life, and then extend to the greater community. Capra said, “By educating people on non-violence, we will help end ignorance.”
McMahon and Capra are helping to organize eight events throughout the school year. One of those events will be the Matthew Shepard candlelight vigil in Upton-Hastings courtyard at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 16. This event will be followed by a concert in the Brooks Student Center. “We’re starting from scratch and we have nothing to work with,” said Capra. Speak Up! has a budget of $75 that came from the Residence Hall Association. “Whether or not we get the money, this will happen,” said McMahon. The proposal was passed at 25 to 0.
Criminology Students Association
In a proposal designed to bring a speaker to campus, the Criminology Students Association asked for $500. The proposal was voted down 1 to 18, due to lack of information at. BSO Secretary Shaun Quinn said, “I cannot support the proposal in this current form.”
Model UN Club proposal tabled
Model United Nations Club put together a proposal requesting, originally $3,262.68 for a trip to the University of Pennsylvania for a Model UN conference. The amount was amended to $2,300. Last year, the Model UN Club went to this conference and did exceptionally well, according to the representative. Much of the concern with this proposal lay not only with the amount of money being asked for, but the history of the group as well. Model United Nations went defunct two years in a row, and after being reinstated last year, asked for a specific amount of money for the same trip. This amount was considerably less because there was less interest in the trip. Only $1,400 was allocated to the group.
The amount requested this year only covers the cost of the hotel. Attending this conference and staying in the same hotel is part of the whole experience, according the representative. Many times the students have to work with students from other schools, and it would be difficult to do so at night if they had a different location than the rest of the students attending.
Due to the nature of disagreement with the proposal and of the amount of other proposals to be discussed, the BSO voted to table the motion of voting on the proposal until the next meeting. This tabling of the issue may cause the trip to be cancelled due to lack of monetary support from the BSO. Last year at the Penn State conference, USM’s Model UN Club won best delegate and at the Harvard Conference they received runner-up.
Other proposals passed
A proposal by the Pagan Students Association for $435 to help with the costs of a masquerade ball was passed after some discussion. A roll-call vote was implemented at the request of Accounting Society, because many members of the BSO had to leave, or were out of their seats. The proposal passed 16 to 3.
Three History Student Associations proposals passed for an amount totaling $550. The first was a proposal for reimbursement on money spent on tolls and gas for a trip by 15 students to Joshua Chamberlain’s house in Brunswick. This was for $100 and if the total turns out to be less, the unused money would be returned. Receipts are required for all reimbursements, but the trip was taking place at the same time as the BSO meeting. The second proposal was for $100 in helping to pay for a guest speaker, Marylen Serna Salinas.
On Oct. 16 Salinas will speak on both campuses about the nature of gender issues in Colombia. He will be at Masterton Hall in Portland from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m and in Gorham at Bailey Hall from 2 to 3:15 p.m. This proposal passed at 15 to 0. The last proposal from History Students Association was to help fund a workshop given by Charlie King and Karen Brandow. This proposal passed at 14 to 0.
Absent Groups
Student Nurses Organization
Multi-Cultural Student Affairs Center
American Chemical Society
American Choral Directors
Biology Club
Blade Society
Music Educators
Pre-Law
Pre-Med
Star Club
Women”s Studies