BSG hashes out J-Board report, bias incidents

BSG Update: BSG approves past expenditures at first meeting

In its first meeting of the 2013-2014 academic year, Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) dove right into business by unanimously voting to retroactively authorize funding proposals that had been implemented by BSG over the summer and during first-year orientation.
The first of the three proposals discussed on Wednesday night—introduced by Vice President for Facilities and Sustainability David Levine ’16—retroactively authorized an expenditure made over the summer for $12,000 to provide a film service to stream new movies online and over Bowdoin’s cable system. According to Levine, the program is run through Swank Motion Pictures, a company that provides colleges and other institutions with licenses to stream recently released Hollywood films.
According to BSG President Sarah Nelson ’14, the program had previously been under the operating budget of the Bowdoin Cable Network, “but it fell by the wayside last year, so we talked a lot about it and decided that it was a service that was popular enough that we felt it was something that BSG could be providing to students.” The $12,000 covers the rights to the 15 new films—chosen by BSG—per month which will be streamed online, as well as played on loop on a channel of the college’s cable.

BSG Update: BSG counters bias with ‘No Hate November’

At its Wednesday meeting, Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) sought to offer a response to the recent bias incidents on campus. The assembly unanimously passed a two-part proposal introduced by BSG President Sarah Nelson ’14 that condemned the incidents and sought to brand this month as “No Hate November”.
The proposal seeks to allow both BSG and the College—in Nelson’s words—to be “more proactive than reactive” in the future when dealing with dealing with bias events on campus. To Nelson, “No Hate November” is about changing the way that the College and the student body respond to bias incidents.
“This is something that really affects every single member of our community that deserves more attention than just an event that takes up a few hours one afternoon,” she said.

BSG Update

BSG hashes out J-Board report, bias incidents

October 25, 2013

Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) discussed proposed changes for club sport funding but did not hold any votes in their meeting on Wednesday.

The meeting began with Meadow Davis, the associate director of student affairs and advisor to the student sexual misconduct board, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Lesley Levy and Judicial Board Chair Chelsea Shaffer ’14, answering questions from BSG about the yearly report by the Judicial Board.

This part of the meeting was held in executive session; all nonvoting members of BSG and the Orient were asked to leave for the duration of the session.

“Executive sessions only happen when we’re talking about anything confidential...when we want to have a very candid discussion and we want it to remain within these four walls,” said BSG President Sarah Nelson ’14.

Nelson clarified that no information regarding the Judicial Board report was shared with the BSG that is not available to the general student body.

The second item of business addressed proposed changes to the guidelines used by the Student Activities Funding Committee (SAFC) when funding student-organized clubs. Vice President of the Treasury and Chair of the SAFC Megan Massa ’14 led the discussion.

Proposed changes to these guidelines include the removal of the requirement for clubs with coaches to collect dues from members totaling 15 percent of a club’s budget, adding a cap on how much club-sponsored banquets can cost per person, stating that the SAFC will no longer be funding prizes, and clarifying that students cannot miss classes for SAFC funded events. The changes will be voted on in next week’s session.

The third major item discussed was changes to the shuttle service to Freeport and Portland. This year, more records are kept than in previous years of who rides the shuttles and when, and this information is being used to adjust budgeting and frequency of the service accordingly.

Finally, Nelson shared her thoughts on the bias incidents recently disclosed to the community.
Nelson, along with Vice President for Student Affairs Robo Tavel ’16 and Laurel Varnell ’14, representative for the Class of 2014, will be meeting with the Deans later in the week to discuss an appropriate campus response to the incidents.

Comments are permanently closed.