SGA passes C1 Bill

Class Council not to serve on separate committee

During a constitutional convention Tuesday night, the Student Government Association passed the C1 Bill, stating that the Class Council leaders no longer will have to serve on a separate SGA committee. The Constitutional Convention, which is held when amendments are being added to the constitution, was after the Senate meeting.

The bill now will be added to the SGA Constitution, so that the 16 executive members of the Class Council have fulfilled their committee requirements.

First approved by the Senate, the bill then was sent to the Executive Council, where it was passed. Once passed, it sat for a week before being debated at the Constitutional Convention.

During the Senate meeting prior to the Constitutional Convention, the SGA passed its first finance bill of the year.

Last week, Phi Sigma Pi, a national honor fraternity, asked the SGA to help support four of 12 of the brothers attending the National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.

The SGA has $32,234 in contingency this year, which goes to any non-front end budgeted organization. Organizations at JMU can request funds twice a year for a total of $4,000 from the SGA.

Phi Sigma Pi requested $4,000. The National Convention fee is $109 for each brother, totaling $436. The remainder of the money, $3,564, that the fraternity requested would go toward the $25,000 needed to establish the Megan Stidham Scholarship Fund. Stidham was a JMU student who passed away Nov. 14, 2001.

Phi Sigma Pi President Esther Gertin, a senior, spoke at the meeting. She said that the scholarship will go to two JMU students, one of which would be a member of the fraternity. However, to begin this scholarship, Phi Sigma Pi must give $25,000 to JMU as an endowment, and the school then would guarantee that this "scholarship continues forever," Gertin said.

Junior Matt Gray submitted an amendment to decrease the bill to $2,500, 10 percent of the $25,000 Phi Sigma Pi needs to raise.

"I don't think it would be responsible of us to give such a large amount of money so early in the year," Gray said.

Junior Katie Freind, arts and letters senator, said, "Our fund-raising efforts have quadrupled this year, and it's for a good cause. I think we should give them the whole amount."

Last year, the contingency was exhausted, and many members voiced their concern that some organizations wouldn't benefit from receiving money from the SGA if it was given out all at once.

Senior Lyndsey Walther-Thomas said, "We have the money, and that's what it is there for. Why not give it to a good cause such as this. [Phi Sigma Pi] is very involved campus wide, and this is something that is going to affect JMU even after all of us have graduated."

The bill for giving Phi Sigma Pi the $4,000 was voted on and passed in the Senate. The Executive Council will vote on this bill today in its Exec Meeting.