By Colin Ahern – Opinions Editor

The most recent Board of Student Representatives (BSR) meeting opened with a discussion of an issue that would prove to be persistent throughout the morning: the number of missing positions in the student government was so great that the BSR currently requires very high attendance in order to operate. As a result, the meeting was delayed by twenty-three minutes when one member was running late. After the meeting began, the minutes from the previous meeting were approved. These minutes are not public. 

After the preamble, the applications for Humanities Senator began. Sonoma Brawley’s application made a case for the value of humanities during a decline in enrollment. She also detailed her background working on innovation in learning spaces. Olivia Fasan followed Brawley with an extensive history in legislative work, history in the hiring committee for the French department, and dual enrollment in Bishop’s and University of Sherbrooke. Brawley was chosen as the candidate after a great deal of deliberation.

From here, Graduate Student Senator candidate elections began. Sandra Aneke quickly found herself elected after her application emphasised an interest in bringing a sense of community to graduate and international students.

After the application process, BU Figure Skating club had an application to reevaluate their budget to get more ice time and funding for skates, requesting $2779. It was decided that this would afford ten pairs of skates with a storage case and their maintenance costs, in a varied enough array of skate sizes to accommodate the growing club. They would also be able to have ice time twice a week until February. This funding is requested largely because of how the cost of skates serves as a barrier for students to join the club and has stifled the club’s growth.

One concern that SRC President Camilla Rizzi raised was “if the deposit for the skates is $20, what’s to stop people from stealing skates for $20?” She referred to the same thing happening with the graduating hockey team and their hockey jerseys from a previous year. This was resolved by the Skating Club agreeing to document each deposit diligently to retain the skates. The motion carried, and the budget of $2779 was approved.

From here, the BU Volleyball Club requested $1231.47 to get equipment that is competition legal. They wanted funding for a cart, a tripod, higher quality volleyballs, fees for practice shirts, and merchandise. This would assist with each players’ $100 fee to play in the club and allow the recording of games for livestreaming and studying. While this club does not play in a league, they are competing with Cegep teams in hopes of forming a competitive team. The motion to approve the funding passed.

The BU Undergraduate Psychology Society applied for $385 for future wine and cheese catering and decorations. It was noted that there was a rude email sent to SRC executives demanding the money weeks ago. The sum requested at the meeting was approximately double the amount demanded in the email, since there was a catering error when the wine and cheese arrived on Oct. 26 when the real date of the wine and cheese was Nov. 26. As a result, the club wanted to be reimbursed for this scheduling error in addition to their current request. The motion for $385 was approved after noting the usual high attendance at the event, the location being moved to Cleghorn, and the SRC not providing alcohol.

The English Literature Club was approved $77 for a trip to an escape room in an attempt to revitalise the club. Similarly, Big Buddies had an insufficient budget, and funding will be reviewed in the coming days.

Education Senator Genevieve Leclair and On-Campus Representative Zoe Ouimette resigned. Advertising for the open positions will include leadership opportunities. Leclair will serve until the end of the semester but will not be able to vote for her replacement due to SRC bylaws.

The final request was made for $2000 towards the Jeux du Commerce (JDC) challenge, an event that provides business students an opportunity to build connections. The funding for this project is disputed between the SRC and Williams School of Business. The club had already received some funding from alumni. There was briefly a motion to table this topic until further information was provided, but it failed on the grounds that tabling this topic would negatively affect the timeline of the project. Another motion arose to fund the project on the condition that Williams School of Business comes through with their own funding. This motion failed. After a brief closed session, a motion to grant $750, as long as it won’t be used on merchandise, was approved.

The meeting, which ran long and ultimately had to be rescheduled, reflects a staffing problem in student government. Student government engagement is low, and as such, motions are being passed inefficiently.