sga@iit.edu

| Tuesday, September 13th, 2016

Get to know some of the candidates for SGA Senate

 

Kislay Bhagat
Armour College of Engineering

No efficient and fair form of
government can be run without debate, and
every debate needs to have people that will
challenge the popular belief if there is some
problem with it. I am ready to be that person.

 

Kian Madani
Armour College of Engineering

There are so many qualities that a
candidate must have; however, the two crucial
and basic parts of them are to have some
insight to see the subject of dispute and have
the courage to put the issue into discussion
with authorities.

Jacob DiGiorgio
Armour College of Engineering

I believe that I am the best candidate
for this position because I will do whatever it
takes to make IIT a better place and give my
best effort...I also bring in a different way of
think being a student athlete and involved in
multiple clubs.

 

Nathan Jones
College of Science

Do not let your dreams and goals
wash to the wayside, but capture them,
visualize them, and together, we can make it a
reality. My name is Nathan Cooper Jones and
I am running for your SGA Senator for the
College of Science, and I hope you vote great
by voting Nate.

Jillian Edwards
Armour College of Engineering

Coming from a small island with not
many schools or colleges like IIT, I see so much
potential as it relates to the resources available
to students and student organizations here and
I believe that I have the drive to maximize the
use of these resources.

 

Gina Oberoi
College of Science

I understand how important it is for
everyone to be on the same page when working
to solve issues and how to play off of everyone’s
strengths to come up with the most practical
and efficient solutions. When working on a
team of senators as well as working directly
with students and faculty, I believe these
principles are just as important.

 

Ethan Castro
Stuart School of Business

I believe there is still much that can
be done in terms of promoting the face and
avenues of SGA to every student. SGA needs
to be both reachable and desirable for students
to come to with any concerns about their
college experience, and that is the issue I wish
to dedicate my efforts towards.

David Sobel
School of Applied Technology

I can say that when it comes to
putting forward and discussing ideas and
coming up with solutions, you can bet that I’ll
be one ofthe first to do so.

Caitlin Simpson

School of Applied Technology

The most important issue would be
what ever IIT students feel is crucial at the
moment. I would prioritize any issues that
have not yet been addressed, or at least one
that we have not yet found a solution to.

Aditya Bisht
Armour College of Engineering

I will ask students to join and help
sga by giving their valuvable opinions by
which we can organize various programs or
help them in their problems by knowing their
opinions.

 

Miles Thompson

Stuart School of Business

Hearing students say negative
things about IIT is never great, but being able
to actually have power to fix problems is the
reason I’m running. I’d like to make IIT into
a more attractive school for our students
and prospective students. My leadership
and persistence to achieve a goal would help
student get problems fixed.

Check out the rest of the
SGA Senate candidates
on sga.iit.edu

Tuesday, September 13th, 201 6 |

 

sga@iit.edu 9

SGA Senate gets down to business in final meeting before elections

Soren Spicknall
CO PY E D ITO R

On Wednesday, September 7th, the
outgoing Student Government Association
(SGA) Senate met for the final time before
elections the week of the 12th were set to
change its makeup drastically. Though turnout
was still fairly low among the Senators (whose
terms hadn’t yet technically ended), it was
higher than two weeks before, when debate
over the interpretation of quorum rules took
up much of the meeting since so few voting
individuals were present. The agenda for the
meeting was fairly wide—ranging, the group
having come off its first committee meetings
the previous week with plenty to discuss. In
addition to committee business, there was
plenty else to consider as well both in the realm
of internal organization and external projects.

Starting off, the gathered
Senators and Executive Board members
of SGA heard presentations from two
prospective organizations, an essential step
in their approval. These were the first such
presentations of the new semester, meaning
that both organizations had completed their
required formulation steps with the Office of
Campus Life either over summer or during the
end of the spring semester.

First up was the proposed Graduate
Student Association — Chemical and Biological
Engineering (GSA—ChBE), an organization
which had already existed informally and
even hosted some events already at the
beginning of the fall semester. The group
presented an organization structure consisting
of five current student board members, two
faculty advisors, and 11 student membership
signups, with the purpose of connecting
graduate students in the fields of Chemical
and Biological Engineering to professional and
social opportunities with others among them
at Illinois Tech. They outlined a vision for their
organization which involved an active social
media presence and more events to come,
providing a preliminary budget for a typical set
of events modeled after those which had been
funded by their academic department already
earlier on.

During questioning from members

of the Senate, the group clarified that their
department funding was meant as temporary,
and would disappear following their approval
(or denial) as an official student organization.
Some among the Senate latched onto the
beginning of the organization’s name and
suggested that they make their group more
general—purpose, reviving the currently
dormant Graduate Student Association. While
the members of SGA—ChBE didn’t seem entirely
unopposed to the concept, they reiterated that
they were applying for student organization
status specifically to provide a community for
graduate students in their department, not
graduate students as a whole. Some further
questions and suggestions followed from
Senators, including one about reaching out to
the group’s undergraduate counterpart which
was received well.

Next, an organization by the
name of Soccer Super Fan Club presented a
short breakdown of their intention to be a
booster club of sorts for Illinois Tech’s soccer
teams, highlighting the well—documented
ambivalence that many of the university’s
students have toward attending athletics events
and keeping up with their teams. While the
organization itself lacked a defined structure,
its presenter did put forward plans to reserve
space on the MTCC Bridge for promotion and
arrange giveaways for games as strategies to
increase turnout.

Following the initial presentation,
Senators had a number of urgent questions for
the members of Super Soccer Fan Club. Chief
among them was one regarding the existence
of Hawk’s Nest, a unit of Union Board which
is charged with being a general promoter for
Illinois Tech Athletics. When asked whether
they thought their role could fit within the fold
of Hawk’s Nest, or whether they had contacted
that group, the presenter admitted that they
had not made active contact (though they were
ambiguous about whether they had reached
out yet), but that they had generally noticed
the Hawk’s Nest did not pay much attention
to soccer games. Given that Finance Board
typically does not fund pure giveaways, the
organization was cautioned that they would
likely need to build a relationship with Hawk’s
Nest (which derives its giveaway funding from
other sources) in order to conduct much of its

proposed business.

When members of the group were
asked to leave the room and Senate discussed
the proposal privately, the debate focused
primarily on related issues, attempting to
figure out whether a student organization tied
specifically to the identity of another was really
worth approving on its own. None present
denied that athletic spirit at the university
was an issue worth tackling, but Super Soccer
Fan Club’s inherent funding limitations led to
doubt over whether they would actually be
aided at all by an official student organization
designation, and whether having two separate
booster organizations might actually be a
detriment to the overall ability of each to
function as intended.

On the strength of their organization
and purpose, GSA—ChBE’s status as an official
body passed Senate by a vote of 12 in favor, 0
against, and 2 abstentions. In the end, Super
Soccer Fan Club’s specific focus on soccer
(rather than athletics in general) helped them
edge over the threshold for passing, with a final
vote of 7 in favor, 6 against, and 1 abstention.

Next up were reports from SGA’s
Executive Board, elected back in Spring.
President Leo Sukkar briefly discussed
changes that were made to a set of proposed
constitutional amendments following debate
at the previous Senate meeting (covered in the
August 30th issue of TechNews), and a vote was
held on the new language which was intended
to establish and define the official existence
of an Events Chair, Events Committee, and
Secretary, among some other smaller changes.
The amendments passed unanimously. Sukkar
also briefly discussed the impending first fall
meeting of the President’s Student Advisory
Council, a group of designated representatives
of different portions of the student body which
meets with President Cramb approximately
once per month to provide direct input on
university actions and formulate projects to
benefit students.

The Vice President of Academic
Affairs, Akash Raina, briefly presented an
update from the University Faculty Council,
the legislative body of Illinois Tech’s faculty
He highlighted ongoing issues with Career
Services’ unwillingness to accept resumed
outside a narrow scope of visual formats, an

issue being worked on by UFC, in addition to
feedback about academic advisors’ investment
in students’ success. Next, Communications
VP Jelani Canty recapped the contents of
his committee meeting the week before,
emphasizing his commitment to having
the committee organize and participate in
community service, interact with WIIT
and TechNews productively through Media
Advisory Board, and finish work on the Liaison
Project, intended to connect SGA Senators
and student organizations in an ongoing,
positive relationship. After Canty, Student Life
VP Qianran He spoke about her committee’s
ongoing efforts to reevaluate the structure of
Illinois Tech’s Student Discount Card program
and student input on the campus safety video
quiz shown to incoming students.

As an extension of the previous meeting’s
business, Finance Board Chair Sung Min Choi
Hong presented a reduced slate of candidates
for the position of Finance Board Advisor,
a role that interacts directly with student
organizations and forms Finance Board’s
legislature when making budgeting decisions
for the Student Activities Fund. One additional
candidate was present and one had dropped
their candidacy, and after an explanation from
President Sukkar regarding the committee
approval process which led to each individual’s
nomination, the slate was passed unanimously,
in time for the first Finance Board hearing of
the year the next Saturday.

The final portion of the Senate
meeting, Open Floor, was composed of
less structured discussion of two issues:
the theoretical establishment of a two—tier
student organization system (in which some
organizations would have a simpler application
process, but fewer privileges, than others)
and general ideas for how Senate should be
conducted. While each discussion was lengthy,
a consensus was not immediately found on
either issue, and those topics will likely be
discussed once again in the future.

SGA Senate meetings take place
every other Wednesday at 9:15PM in Stuart
Building 112.

TechNews

COHi’OLCi' bUSiflZSSE’i’ZCWHZWSiii’fiOYi/J

Discounted ad contracts now available for mu 20w