Duke Student Government President Jordan Giordano used the first veto of his administration Wednesday night.
After the DSG Senate passed a measure to create "East Campus Gardening Day" at its weekly meeting, Giordano, a senior, vetoed the legislation. Giordano cited misuse of funds as his reason for using the power.
The gardening idea would have organized a day for freshman to plant six rosebud trees around the gazebo on East Campus.
"The University groundskeeping pays for plants all over campus," he said. "It would create bad precedent to have DSG start paying for these plants."
Freshman Jane Moore, an athletics and campus services senator, presented the proposal to spruce up East Campus.
"This is near the East Campus entrance, so anyone who drives in would see the trees," she said. "This is the most important area to look nice, and right now, it doesn't."
Giordano confirmed that this is the first time the presidential veto has been used this year.
In response to administrators' requests that DSG discuss future plans for Tailgate, senators presented several ideas to amend the pre-football game celebrations.
One idea was to introduce a 21-and-over "beer garden" separate from the Tailgate parking lot in order to expand the celebration. Another idea was to create a more traditional Tailgate that would allow students to bring cars and grills to the party site. Several senators said they believe having more food at Tailgate would encourage a more traditional tailgating atmosphere.
In other business:
Representatives approved the creation of two new student organizations. The first, Duke Section of National Council of Negro Women, will provide support services to black women on campus. The second, Social Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development for Students, is an organization that seeks to promote social goals through entrepreneurship and student-run enterprises.
In addition, 684-Duke, a phone line that will connect students to popular on-campus organizations, was approved to be funded for a three-month trial period. The line will redirect callers to services such as Parking and Transportation Services, Student Health and Residence Life and Housing Services.
"The trial will allow us to start using something we're already paying for and get some bang for our buck," said DSG Director of Student Services Kousha Navidar, a junior.
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