ASG debates student org funding, elects new off-campus senator

Miami University’s Associated Student Government (ASG) held an election and approved student organization funding for the remainder of the fall semester at last week’s meeting.

Anondo Banerjee, sexual & interpersonal violence prevention education & outreach coordinator for the Office of Student Wellness, and Jannie Kamara, the It’s On Us co-coordinator, also presented information for ASG’s collaborative tabling event with It’s On Us.

On Oct. 22, ASG representatives will participate in a tabling campaign for Domestic Violence Awareness month. They will hand out free t-shirts and provide information about how to report sexual assault and domestic violence. Banerjee provided ASG members with information to answer questions during the tabling session.

There were two scheduled elections for senator positions at the Oct. 15 meeting.

Tatum Moleski, the sole candidate running for College of Arts and Science (hard sciences) senator, was unable to be present for the election due to an illness, so the election was tabled to the following meeting.

Kennedy Cook, a first year commuter, ran unopposed for the open off-campus senator seat. She was elected unanimously.

ASG also addressed student organization allocations for the remainder of the fall semester.

Allocations for the semester totalled more than $400,000. Although this amount was over budget, members said that they expected upcoming fundraising efforts and next semester’s student fees to account for the deficit and that no cutbacks were going to be necessary in the upcoming spring semester.

Several senators protested the amounts provided for certain clubs, especially the Japanese Culture and Language Club (JCLC).

The JCLC was allocated $11,426.12. Senators questioned why the club was allocated so much funding despite not hosting expensive events.

“[The JCLC] only requested about $400 for their own organization,” ASG Secretary of Finance Will Hoffman explained.

He said the organization requested more money to support smaller Japanese culture-related clubs categorized by the JCLC. But Hoffman did not specify which clubs he was referring to. Because the JCLC is a Tier 3 student organization, it is able to request more ASG funding for this purpose.