Funding, elections occupy SAC meeting

Representatives from more than 80 different student groups participated in the second general body meeting of the Student Activities Council last night. In the course of two hours at the David Rittenhouse Laboratory, SAC introduced the body to its new online system, elected four new executive board members and approved last week's contingency budget requests. Wharton senior Jared Susco, online committee chairman and the former SAC chairman, opened up the meeting with a demonstration of how the new online system works. Through the SAC Web site, student groups can check their account summaries and keep track of their budgets daily. "This is the beauty of the whole system," Susco said. "We think it is going to be a very useful tool." In addition to the introduction of the online system, SAC also filled four spots on its executive board. In order to run for executive board, a student must be an officer in his or her SAC group this semester and an undergraduate for at least two semesters. A total of nine undergrads make up the executive board. When the floor opened up for nominations, only three people were selected, leaving one spot empty. College sophomore Seth Bressack of the Debate Council, Engineering junior Paula Colmenares of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and College sophomore Afnan Tariq of the South Asia Society were the three SAC members automatically elected. The floor was reopened for nominations several minutes later, at which point Engineering sophomore Eduardo Vieira filled the fourth spot. "Some groups have gotten a fairer cut in the deal than others, and I intend to cut down on that, as well as the bureaucracy, if possible," Vieira said. Colmenares also said she felt the need to accept the nomination as a way to get more money for student groups. "I have been having a lot of trouble finding funding for the SHPE," Colmenares said. "I would like to help other students get more money and find out why the general budget got cut from last year." SAC Chairman Jay Haverty said he wasn't surprised by the low participation in elections. "We have never had a high participation," Haverty said. "I think it went well but I don't even know three of them." Associate Director of Student Life Rodney Robinson attributed the apathy toward elections to the students' busy schedules. "A lot of groups are busy within their own organizations and don't have the time," Robinson said. "The executive board is a weekly commitment and can be very intense in the spring." Following elections, the body voted on a number of contingency requests, which are essentially budget requests. They decided to allocate more funding to Alternate Spring Break, among other requests.