During their general body meeting on Tuesday, the SGA discussed several fall events, including a spirit week coinciding with the final home football game, a fall event modeled after Spring Fair’s beer garden and a “meet the candidates” event immediately preceding Freshman Class Council elections.
The SGA acted on new rules regarding elections, discussed members’ expectations, approved a grant for condom accessibility and confirmed new members of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences (KSAS) Curriculum Committee and the Student Activities Commission (SAC).
The SGA discussed, but did not vote on, a bill on viewpoint neutrality, which would implement a long-term solution to the issue of funding groups classified by the SGA as Advocacy and Awareness.
Executive Secretary Adelaide Morphett, who expressed concerns about reaching out to the student body, discussed the SGA’s plan to create a monthly video update, which would summarize SGA developments in a format that would be more accessible than meeting minutes. Morphett also summarized the comments from the previous “What do you Want Wednesday” on the Breezeway, which included a request to increase security near University Parkway.
Executive Treasurer William Szymanski said that the meeting went well, and that people are getting more comfortable in their current roles, which is helping the meetings flow smoothly.
The Sophomore Class Council has planned a spirit week leading up to the final home football game on Nov. 15. Although this is a sophomore class event, due to the size of the event, the Sophomore Class Council has invited other class councils to assist and set up their own tents, and the week may become an SGA event.
The organizers initially planned to call the event “homecoming,” but the SGA decided it was best to consult with other organizations, such as the Alumni Association, before deciding on a name, as it may cause confusion with the traditional spring Homecoming.
The week will include a Hopkins spirit day on Monday, a class spirit day on Tuesday and a day focused on clubs and organizations on Wednesday. On Thursday, the organizers would like to involve Red Bull, and on Friday, they will collaborate with the Office of Undergraduate Admissions to film current students talking about their Hopkins spirit in order to help advertise the school to prospective students. On Saturday, there will be a giveaway of Tradition Scarves to game attendees in order to encourage attendance.
Also in consideration is working with other organizations to hold a jointly-sponsored Spring Fair-style beer garden in the fall. This event might occur during HOPtoberfest in future years, but if it occurred this year, it would happen later in the fall semester, as there is insufficient time to prepare for it by early October.
With freshman elections approaching, the SGA unanimously approved an amendment to the SGA bylaws that requires any candidate who has not previously served in the SGA to attend at least one general body meeting prior to the voting period in order to be eligible.
In addition, freshman election results will be delivered on a Friday this year, to allow for briefing of the newly elected class representatives before the general body meeting on the next Tuesday. In the past, the results were delivered on a Monday.
The SGA also amended bylaws that apply to current members, making minor changes to reaffirm policies concerning on-topic computer usage during meetings. The body then reviewed a bill that was passed last year, which had been sponsored by now-Senior Class Senator Rodolfo Finocchi and had created a more uniform system for monitoring absences and tardies to general body, class council and committee meetings.
The SGA, in conjunction with the Committee on Student Elections (CSE), plans on holding a “meet the candidates” night in the Fresh Food Café on the night that voting on the Freshman Class Council is set to begin. Candidates will be given posterboards to make presentations, and the CSE will set up voting booths so that attendees can vote while at the event.
During last year’s final meeting, the SGA approved $300 in annual funding to Advocacy and Awareness groups as a stopgap measure to ensure they would at least receive some funds, and promised to revisit the issue this fall.
The bill on viewpoint neutrality, which was proposed earlier this fall, would amend the SGA bylaws in order to create a system in which all student groups, including Advocacy and Awareness groups, are eligible for the same funding, based on the number and size of the events those groups intend to sponsor. The SAC would be responsible for overseeing this process.
The bill would not affect funding during the 2014-15 academic year, but would go into effect for the 2015-16 year.
Executive President Janice Bonsu urged the body to vote on the bill.
“The bill itself is not time-sensitive, but the issue is,” Bonsu said. “They [Advocacy and Awareness groups] have been waiting three weeks.”
Executive Vice President Kyra Toomre expressed concerns about the repercussions that the SGA would face if they did not take action on this issue.
“If we don’t pass this bill, we’re going to have to go back to judiciary,” Toomre said.
However, no motion to vote on the bill was introduced.
Another measure that the SGA passed involved giving a $916 grant to the Center for Health Education and Wellness to refill condom dispensers in the library. The measure continues the SGA’s support for the condom dispensers, and it passed unanimously.
The SGA confirmed new members of the KSAS Curriculum Committee — senior Skyler Uhl, junior Taylor Alessio, sophomore Alexandra Diehl and freshman Ajay Mehta. The committee is composed of faculty and students and advises on curricular issues within KSAS.
The members confirmed for the SAC were returning seniors Maxwell Dickey, Paulina Valderrabano and Pavitra Gudur; returning junior Ranita Ghosh; and new sophomores Alex Sadler, Tiffany Chen, Jonathan Kim, Matthew Bee and Alexandra Diehl.
