Senate seeks Romney for speech

Student Union officials are actively pursuing an on-campus appearance by Governor Mitt Romney, Senate chairman Joel Fajardo said last night.

Fajardo teased the Senate with the possibility of a Romney speech to students for the second time, after mentioning it briefly at last week’s meeting. Fajardo announced he had made contact with the appropriate people and said a ‘certain’ governor was being considered for a visit.

Three funding requests were also accepted last night, as a combined $2,704 left the Union budget. While the internal budget is used solely for Union purposes, the external budget is used for both the Union and funding requests by student groups. After the allocations were filled, the external budget rested at $2,721.

Despite emptying the internal budget and allocating nearly half of the remaining external budget, Union VP of Financial Affairs Mike Bodek said the Union is on track for the rest of the semester.

‘I do believe that we are going to be on target this year,’ Bodek said.

Senators argued on the Senate floor during a vote for an internal funding request by the Senate Student Affairs committee. Sen. Erik Dawson, chairman of the committee, asked for $1,064 for Springfest event ‘Singled Out,’ a competition similar to MTV’s version of the original show.

After six votes and two separate motions, $904 was allocated to the committee for the event. At one point, it took three separate revisions of a motion in order for senators to correctly make an accurate amount, which was later voted down.

Fajardo used his gavel numerous times during the arguments in an attempt to corral the boisterous senators and apologized for the ‘ridiculous’ nature of the events.

The Hawaiian Cultural Association received $800, after requesting $1,000 to fund a Hawaiian-style luau scheduled for Apr. 12 in the George Sherman Union. The request came after a change in regulations caused the group to use Aramark to cater the event, instead of obtaining several items of food from family and friends.

‘There are things we would have been able to have had if we had done it all ourselves,’ said Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences sophomore Megan Murai, a representative from the group.

A requested $1,000 for funding by the Union Service Council for the body’s annual ‘Fight for Life’ benefit was also granted. The 12-hour event scheduled for Apr. 26 will donate all funds taken in to the American Cancer Association and could possibly include 12 other universities and colleges, event organizers said.

‘We’ve never really had them all on campus before and we thought it would be fun,’ SUSC chair Mike Pereira said.

Union executive VP Joe Rollin also announced that a collection box would be placed in the Union office for the rest of this week in an effort to collect supplies needed for soldiers from the Boston area fighting in Iraq. Shaving supplies, magazines, non-perishable food items, sunscreen, hand wipes and letters will be gathered and shipped through the Dorchester Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Rollin said ‘Project SOS,’ or ‘Support Our Soldiers,’ is not a statement on the war itself and is neither for nor against the war, but a chance for students to offer assistance.

‘We’re hoping to get as much of a response for students to contribute somehow if they’re not sure how they can,’ he said. ‘It’s the great alternative to protesting.’