What would you do with $1,000?
SGA sponsors contest to augment student organization budgets
By Wesley Michael Chicko

Thanks to the Student Government Association, campus clubs and organizations now have an opportunity to earn some extra money and make up for the loss of funds brought about by this year’s 15 percent budget cuts.

In a meeting on September 25, the SGA senate voted unanimously to approve a proposal, which will award $1000 to any club, organization, or person who submits a valid written proposal answering the question, “What would you do with $1000?”

SGA President Adam Moskowitz said the idea came from one of SGA’s brainstorming sessions.

“I was calling all the SGAers, and while talking to Andrea Talbott, she mentioned that a lot of people commented that they wanted more for their money,”said Moskowitz.

“My initial response,” he added, “ was to ask her, What would you do if we had the money?”

“Adam and I were talking about what we could do to make things better, and the idea came up,” said Talbott, who serves as SGA’s public information officer.

“I talked to the people in my suite,” she said, “and they thought it sounded like a great idea.”

The response of SGA senators to the proposal has been strongly in favor of the project, according to Moskowitz.

“The only discussion was really about when to announce the winner,” he said. “I originally wanted to announce the winner during Homecoming Weekend, but we decided that it was just too soon.”

In addition to sponsoring the contest, SGA is also allowing its members to champion the causes of different clubs and organizations.

“SGA will provide participation from its senators if necessary,” said Moskowitz, “and SGA manpower is encouraged to be written into anyone’s proposal.”

The deadline for submitting proposals is October 20. The proposals will be reviewed at the October 23 SGA meeting, and the winner will be announced on October 30.

Many clubs and organizations are excited about the idea.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for the clubs and organizations to get the money they need for campus events, especially in light of the budget cuts,” said Andrea Provost, president of Epsilon Sigma Alpha.

“It’s fair to everybody as well,” she added.This contest is only one of many ideas SGA is working on to help improve the campus community, and Moskowitz is working hard to make sure that everyone in SGA gets an equal voice.

“You have 30 of the best SGA members we’ve had in a while, but you spend most of the meeting time giving them dates and times,” he said.

“But,” he added, “you need to utilize their smarts.”

“To get the best participation and utilize their talents, CiCi Jones, SGA Vice President] and I ask for their input when they have time to really think about it,” commented Moskowitz.

As far as the current campaign, Moskowitz is fairly excited and optimistic about its success.“It’s kind of like everyone is in SGA now,” he said, “and we want to know what they would do with $1000. Everybody gets a chance to shoot for it.”

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