The Student Government Association, at its meeting yesterday at 4:30 p.m., discussed the funding of SGA T-shirts for the senators. Senator Sam Price moved to un-table a motion to allocate money for the purchase of SGA T-shirts. That motion passed, and the motion to allocate $301.88 for the T-shirts.
“I talked with each and every one of you individually, and asked for your opinions on the shirt. So, based on your opinions, I decided to write a motion to get the T-shirts,” Price said.
Price said the shirts would cost $7.56 each, and with the $30 set-up fee, the total cost for each shirt is $8.63.
Secretary Elaine Musso brought up the fact that Price had not included the $30 set up fee into the motion, and therefore it was not clear.
“If we go and order this and it does not add up, there is going to be a problem,” she said.
Musso said if 40 shirts at a price of $7.56 per shirt are ordered, the motion would not be right because each shirt would cost a different amount, depending upon the size.
Price made a friendly amendment to add the set-up fee to the motio, to clear up the situation, and the motion passed.
“As far as the motion goes, I do not believe it is a proper expenditure of student money to buy T-shirts for ourselves,” James Irwin said.
“With the limited budget that we do have this semester, it should be spent more on the students, granted the senators do give up time to work on this, but it is their choice.”
Irwin then made a motion for a friendly amendment to say the SGA will provide the funding for the set up fee, and the senators would pay for their shirts themselves.
“We don’t have that much money in the budget. Not everyone wore the shirts last semester,” Senator Jarrod Gonzales.
Gonzales said the SGA thought that if it bought T-shirts, people would be more inclined to wear them, but that $8 was not that much to pay out of their pockets for the shirts.
“Students should not have to pay for our T-shirts,” he said.
Price said she talked to all of the senators prior to the meeting and asked for their input on the matter, and they collectively agreed that the SGA should buy the shirts.
“If you would have told me that before I would not have wasted my time to call people getting prices, and all this other stuff, and now you decide to change your mind now,” Price said.
Musso said regardless of if the senators order something and the SGA pays for it or not, the SGA is required to go through purchasing. The senate would then pay the SGA back to reimburse it.
“You need to think about what you want to do. Do you want to pay for it up front, or do you want to let the SGA pay for it and then you reimburse them?” Musso said.
The motion for the T-shirts was tabled for next week.
Also tabled was a motion brought up to discuss the SGA’s funding of the Residence Hall Association cost of attending the Southwestern Association of College and University Residence Halls.
