During their March 26 meeting, the University of Maine General Student Senate announced Sen. William “Nick” Smith, a third-year business management student, as the new vice president for student organizations. Smith is replacing current VPSO Sarah Porter, who is graduating this spring.
The position change will officially take place when Porter completes her undergraduate career this May. Smith also announced he would be stepping down from his position as GSS Sergeant at Arms.
Funding help for Class of 2013 gift voted down
After over 30 minutes of debate — not including the time it took to introduce the resolution — GSS rejected a request from the Class Council of 2013 for $1,500 for “Glass Supplies & Labor” to help fund the senior class gift.
The proposed gift is a stained glass window inside the Memorial Union, which is expected to cost around $5,500 in total. The proposed location is near the entrance to the bridge to the North Pod, opposite the frozen yogurt bar Going Bananas! The artwork, designed by former UMSG, Inc. president Chris Protzmann, was revealed in a PowerPoint slideshow during the March 26 meeting. The council’s goal is to have the project done by graduation in May.
Class Council of 2013 President Paige Eggleston spoke on behalf of the resolution. Eggleston stated that the council was approaching GSS for funding to get money to the project’s employed glassmaker as soon as possible. Eggleston assured senators that the request didn’t come due to lack of timing, but because some crucial information surrounding the project wasn’t known until recently.
Sen. Alicia Bolduc began the debate period by reminding GSS members of a similar situation last year, when a hot debate followed the Class Council of 2012 request for help in funding a class gift project.
“Student Government shouldn’t be funding class gifts with money given by all classes,” Bolduc said. “If you plan on giving back to the school with a gift, either raise enough money now or give back when you have enough money to do so later on down the road.”
Sen. Ryan Hall also commented, saying, “This is not our responsibility. Fulfilling our role to make the university a better place, I’m all for that, but to an extent.”
Sen. Lee Jackson moved the previous question, after an extended amount of discussion, and the vote failed.
Later, during special orders and announcements, Senior Sen. Eggleston was still disappointed with the outcome of the resolution.
“Great debate guys, but I’ve never been so immensely discouraged,” Eggleston said. “You guys passed a resolution in 2 1/2 minutes after ours that was two-thirds [the amount] of our request. I’m not comparing groups but … I am.”
The Class Council of 2012 ended up receiving $1,985 for their gift, $485 more than the requested amount from the Class Council of 2013.
Other contributions for the class gift expected by the Class Council of 2013 include $5,000 in fundraising, $1,200 from alumni mentor classes, $800 in class funds and $500 from Student Affairs.
Buttarazzi report from UMS Board of Trustees
According to Sen. Colin Buttarazzi’s report from the University of Maine System Board of Trustees’ most recent meeting in Augusta, the system has revamped background-screening standards for employees and wants to improve the number of students studying computer science and information technology.
Sen. Buttarazzi says the UMS recently realized they’ve been doing employment background-screening checks through different capacities at different schools. Now the system has made a standard and has also heightened extensive regulations for employers who have access to lots of power over where money is spent.
The system also said it wants to double the number of students in the computer science and information technology programs. According to the Board, it is projected that only 30 percent of jobs will be filled in that field within the next couple of years, equating to many job vacancies.
A new campaign, called Project>Login, will be used to attempt to accomplish this goal. Project>Login is a program of Educate Maine, a business-led organization created through the merger of the Maine Coalition for Excellence in Education and the Maine Compact for Higher Education in 2011.
Project>Login will allow students to learn more about the field and create networks with fellow students and future employers.
Also from the report, the Board of Trustees is still working on a way to equalize courses in order to make transferring within the system much easier, capital projects increased allocated funds toward the Memorial Gym’s remodeling for interior and exterior paint, and Faculty Senate president Harlan Onsrud and Continuing and Distance Education Director Jeffrey St. John are working on a way to offer online evaluation forms at the end of the semester instead of bubble sheets.
Partners for World Health wins Club of the Month, 11 others give presentations
With the two-week-long spring break came many service trips and conference attendances for several organizations on campus. According to the meeting’s agenda, a total of 15 presentations were planned, but four clubs’ representatives were absent.
Partners for World Health was named Club of the Month for February. Co-founder and co-president Ellie D’Urso spoke on behalf of the group, extending thanks to VPSO Porter and the rest of the GSS for their generosity.
Partners for World Health recently received preliminary recognition in December. Its work includes collecting unused medical supplies — usually disposed of due to government regulations — and re-organizing them to resourcefully help third-world countries.
African Student Association presented on its trip to the Harvard Development Conference at Harvard Law School and the Sheraton Commander Hotel in Cambridge, Mass. from March 8-9.
The association’s vice president spoke about the conference, titled “Visible Change in Africa: One Innovation at a Time,” saying the group of UMaine students that attended were able to ask questions and learn how the continent of Africa is developing.
The Alpine Ski Team presented on its 2012-13 ski season, which spanned from December to February. The club president said the season was cut short for two reasons: the team was short on funding, and he wanted to keep interest for next year by ending soon so the season didn’t feel “dragged out” like last year’s.
According to the club president, most of the team fell sick mid-way through the season, but skiers who made it healthy to the end had successful seasons.
Alternative Spring Break presented on its eight service trips to various regions, including Georgia, Florida and New Orleans. Sens. Paige Eggleston and Morgan Kinney spoke on behalf of the club, thanking the GSS for its generous funding.
Engineers Without Borders presented on its service trip to Dulce Vivir, a community located in the western mountainous region of Honduras. Organization treasurer and project leader Derek Rothenheber spoke on behalf of EWB, explaining what the students did and sharing a few facts about the community’s current health risks.
“This was a maintenance trip, teaching residents how to sustain a properly working septic system,” Rothenheber said. “We also collected water quality data and found they were drinking and washing with contaminated water, which is unfortunately expected, most times, in countries like this.”
According to Rothenheber, U.S. regulations deem water “contaminated” when there is any measurement coliform present in 100 milliliters of water. In Honduras, on average, there are 50 coliforms present for every 1 milliliter of water.
The group is unsure whether they will be able to continue the service trip next year because International SOS recently updated its security risks, saying Honduras is no longer safe to travel to.
The Equestrian Team presented on its three Intercollegiate Horse Show Association competitions: two were in Vermont and one was in New Hampshire.
According to club captain Megan Story, every team member ribboned at least once, and no show-team members will graduate this spring.
“Our team has definitely become a lot more serious,” Story said. “Hopefully we can continue to increase the intensity of our training and become more successful.”
The Intramural Sports Council presented on its trip to the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association in Las Vegas March 4-7.
Organization president Brandon Hall says the conference provided a lot of advice to help make UMaine’s intramural system grow.
“We got a lot out of [the trip] and we plan on bring back lots of info to help our program,” Hall said. “This includes things like making Facebook and Twitter pages, using IM League for scheduling services and also Ustream to broadcast live events.”
Hall, along with the organization’s vice president, were able to see the Hoover Dam — a structure designed by 1905 UMaine engineering alumnus Frank Crowe — while visiting the Las Vegas area.
The Nordic Ski Club presented on its 2012-13 ski season. According to the club’s speaking representative, the season was lackluster due to a late season of snow — the team was only able to attend one event.
UMaine’s R.E.A.C.H. — Respect, Education, Action, Hope Community — presented on its service trips to Nicaragua and Costa Rica from March 3 to 17. The service trips to Nicaragua were humanitarian-based while the ones in Costa Rica involved organic farming.
Club president Keegan Burdette, who attended the trip to Nicaragua, thanked the GSS and briefly described her experiences.
“We helped with a halfway house for women who were pregnant, which was fully-funded by [the United Nations Children’s Fund], not the government,” Burdette said. “One woman walked three miles to get there.”
The group also worked with Nicaragua’s Department of Health during the second week, walking door-to-door in certain communities to help victims of poor health.
Students of the University of Maine in Technical Theater presented on its trip to the United States Institute for Theatre Technology Annual Conference & Stage Expo in Milwaukee March 20-23.
According to club president Kaleigh Knights, who spoke alongside the club’s vice president and treasurer, seven students attended the conference, which was more than the overall total the club’s had in past years.
Men’s and women’s Ultimate Frisbee clubs presented separately on their trips to Disc-iple Sports’ 2013 High Tide Ultimate Tournament in Brunswick, Ga.
The men’s club improved their overall tournament performance record to 3-4, compared to last year’s 1-6, and also beat several teams they lost to last year.
The women’s club wasn’t expecting to do as well as they did, playing in their first-ever High Tide Ultimate Tournament. The club entered the competition seeded last, made the top level after going 3-0, and secured a spot in tournament play after going 3-0 once again. The club had an early exit after losing its first game.
UMaine Nursing International presented on its service-learning trip in Belize. The club traveled down to the Central American country to deliver medicines and supplies, which were mainly given to UMaine Nursing International by February’s Club of the Month, Partners for World Health.
OrgSync representative speaks
The fast-approaching implementation of OrgSync became much more real after a representative from the campus engagement network, based in Texas, spoke to the GSS.
Suneera Kompelli, UMaine’s new OrgSync Campus Consultant, spoke briefly about the company and took questions from anyone in the room.
“[OrgSync] is an online network for the overall UMaine community,” Kompelli said. “Portals will provide tools, forms, calendar sharing and video for clubs. It also keeps things paperless.”
According to Kompelli, 400 campuses nationwide use OrgSync.
Miscellaneous news
The Wilde-Stein Alliance for Sexual Diversity’s request for $1,000 was approved by the GSS. The funds will be used for Pride Week Rainbow Rave during Wilde Stein’s annual Pride Week April 8-13, which includes DJ LGBT who has been featured at Coachella.
A resolution to update the financial policies, proposed by Vice President for Financial Affairs Raymond Updyke was approved by the GSS. Updyke condensed the policies from 19 pages to 12. The summarized changes include: aggregating policies for board, community associations and clubs into one section, defining responsibility for long-distance calling and stating that any board, community association and club may receive monies from the university.
A main motion was approved by the GSS, asking to favor a group of students traveling to Washington, D.C., to lobby for the passing of the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act. The act would essentially allow for more charitable and grant donations to help improve off-campus university housing, which would include fraternity and sorority houses, and to elevate safety checks and regulations. The fact that 73.1 percent of students at UMaine live in non-University-owned, not-for-profit housing was argued as a big reason to support the act.
According to Legal Services Liaison Sen. Caleb Shortt, Undergraduate Student Legal Aid Sean O’Mara has seen a 400 percent increase in student consulting. The most common issues have been with copyright cases, especially through the art department.
During executive reports, Vice President for Student Entertainment Sarah Goode said a second bus had been planned to bring students to the Macklemore & Ryan Lewis with special guest Iggy Azalea concert at Colby College on April 12. As of March 26, only 20 spots were left.
Vice President Sam Helmke couldn’t help but make a pun after it was announced the second bus would be school bus.
“It’s much more ‘thrifty.’”