Duke Student Government postponed discussion of its budget after a late and at times disorganized Wednesday night meeting.
The Senate had planned to discuss and vote on the student groups 2010-2011 fiscal year budget, but budget talks were delayed until next week, as the meeting ran until 11 p.m.
“Given the lack of decorum in this meeting and that everyone is starting to get a little bit tired... I personally think... that we cannot do it this week,” said Treasurer Sam Halls, a senior.
Hall’s comment came at the end of the 1.5 hour meeting, which did not start until 9:30 p.m. because some members were at a dinner in Chapel Hill. As the meeting neared its end, some senators voiced frustration at the prospect of considering the budget late at night.
Because Executive Vice President Gregory Morrison, a junior, was absent, President Pro-tempore Price Davidson, a sophomore, led the meeting.
Davidson said that although he did not run the meeting as smoothly as Morrison usually does, he thought the meeting was still successful.
“I honestly don’t think that it entirely compromised efficiency,” Davidson said. “I had enough know-how to get us through it, and any shortcomings that I expressed as president pro-tempore were made up for by my fellow student government members.”
At the meeting, senators gave the Duke Partnership for Service control over funding for Duke community service organizations. Community service groups can now choose to apply for funding from dPS or from the Student Organization Finance Committee, which usually handles student group funding.
Funding for performance groups such as Hoof n’ Horn and Duke Circus, as well as for some student publications, is also administered in a centralized manner.
Davidson noted that the decision to delay discussion of the budget gives student groups more time to appeal their allocations by contacting SOFC. No groups had appealed their budgets as of Wednesday’s meeting, he said.
In the middle of the meeting, Davidson presented a mock resolution written as a humorous response to a comment junior Justin Robinette made about DSG in Tuesday’s Chronicle.
In a comment about DSG’s handling of the Spring elections, Robinette called DSG leaders “presumptuous post-adolescent teenagers with drinking problems and personal vendettas.” The resolution jokingly stated which DSG leaders had drinking problems and which had personal vendettas.
“The Senate expresses the sense that it is not presumptuous—any more so than the quoted individual, at least,” read the resolution, which was screen-projected.
Academic Affairs senator Danny Lewin, a senior and a former Chronicle columnist, presented a resolution titled “Promoting Democracy.” The proposal, rejected by the Senate, would have encouraged the Election Commission to extend the deadline for candidates to file to run for office until 11:59 p.m. the day before the election. It also sought to eliminate the signature collection requirement for students seeking to run.
In other business:
Junior Max Tabachnik, current SOFC vice chair for the programming fund, was elected SOFC chair. He said he is in favor of DSG’s move toward using umbrella groups like dPS to distribute funding to organizations with similar purposes.
“I think it’s a good initiative,” he said. “The leaders probably best understand what funding decisions need to be made.”
Tabachnik said in his speech that he wants to implement a more rigorous member selection process, adding that he wants to improve the organization’s clarity and transparency.
After his election, Tabachnik presented a resolution to alter the SOFC selection process. The motion would allow current members to apply for another term in the Spring. SOFC would interview member candidates in the Fall, to be later confirmed by the Senate. DSG will vote on the proposal next week.
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