By Michael Walsh

With a new governor stepping into office in January, the student government association at CCSU has begun to realize the direct impact the governor’s new budget might have on the Connecticut State University System.

SGA President Matt Vekakis first became aware of the possible budget cuts after a trip to the student advisory board at the system office in Hartford.

“We met with all the other SGA representatives from every other CSU school,” said Vekakis.

Vekakis made the visit with Senator Jamie Canny, who also serves SGA as the chair of the scholarships committee. Vekakis brought back information that he presented to the full senate last Wednesday.

“It’s gonna be a big deal in a little bit, but we obviously have a new governor coming in, Governor Malloy. And as the new incoming governor he’s going to be presenting a budget,” said Vekakis. “We were kind of briefed a little bit on what his budget may contain… it could have the most dramatic cuts in educational spending in our state for a long time. We must be prepared as a senate and as a CSU system for these cuts”

Vekakis announced plans to hold an event that tackles the seriousness of the economic issue with a lighthearted touch: Wiener Week.

Wiener Week, which has been set for the week after students come back from Thanksgiving break, will give students the opportunity to trade a supportive signature for a hot dog. The event, which will be held in Semesters inside the student center, is set to take place on Nov. 30, Dec. 1 and Dec. 2.

“I’m going to be drafting up a letter that we’re going to be sending to the governor, encouraging him to keep us in mind and know that cuts to us are detrimental and that it’s really important that we stay healthy as a CSU system because we represent 36,000 students across the state of Connecticut which is by far more than UConn, by far more than any other school in our state. The health of the CSU system is really the health of our entire state” said Vekakis.

Vekakis says that if students want a hot dog during the two-hour a day event they’ll have to show their support and sign the letter.

“Hopefully we’ll get enough signatures and then we’ll send the letter to the governor’s office in Hartford so he can read it and know that we care about our future and we care about our school,” said Vekakis.

SGA Announces Date For CSU Student Government Summit

The CCSU SGA has volunteered to host a SGA summit meeting that will see the senates of all four CSU schools come together to meet and plan future projects.

“All the senates, us and the three other senates, are going to come together and brainstorm and put on a united front for the CSU system,” said Vekakis.

Vekakis has planned the summit for Friday April 1 from 4 to 8 p.m.

“It would be considered an event that’s mandatory for all senators to go to. It’s going to be  about 100-120 people coming from all the CSU schools, all the SGAs. This summit is going to be really important,” said Vekakis.

For Vekakis, communication and unity between all four universities is a must during times of possible educational budget cuts.

“The CSU schools really need to unite and be like we’re one system, we’re not four schools, we’re one system who represents 36,000 people,” said Vekakis. “Cuts should not be taken lightly whatsoever. With the summit I’m hoping that we can all come together and act as one, so I’m really excited for it.”

The senate discussed possible themes for summit, including community engagement, fiscal responsibility, communication, diversity and leadership. More details regarding the summit will emerge as the senate heads into the spring semester.

SGA News, Notes and Briefs:

* According to a report from Treasure Asia Smith, the senate has gone over the desired amount of money they had hoped to spend during contingency requests. In a document included in Wednesday’s minutes, the senate has distributed $98,844 in requests. Prior to the semester a budget of $69,335 was set for such action, but they’ve since gone over that desired amount by $29,509.

* In Dr. Laura Tordenti’s student affairs report, CCSU now has a handful of gender-neutral bathrooms on campus. After requests by the LGBT community, the school acted and turned single bathrooms in academic buildings Copernicus, Davidson and Maria Sanford into gender-neutral bathrooms.

* SGA passed a motion to hold a meeting on Tuesday Nov. 23 at 5 p.m. Previously, no meeting was scheduled for Thanksgiving week, but senators felt the need to continue with business, whether there would be enough senators at the meeting to vote on motions or not.

* Last Wednesday’s senate meeting hit a bumpy patch when discussion came to whether or not motions that would change the by-law had to be tabled for two weeks or not. Many identified that it is up to the president’s interpretation of the matter. After a senator made a motion that would require any motion regarding by-law changes to have to be on the floor for two weeks, President Vekakis had to call for the senate to “stand at ease” while he figured things out with the e-board.Vekakis had to bang the gavel a couple of times to keep the senate at ease, which led to a few senators speaking out afterwards about the chaotic past few meetings the senate had been having.

Ultimately, Vekakis said he wouldn’t hear the previous motion, and that the senate will learn of his interpretation at Tuesday’s meeting. Discussion concerning how long a motion that would change the by-law had to be tabled initially sprung up after motions were made to change meeting times for next semester, as the senate wanted to expedite the process to set a meeting time before class registration was over with.

* An SGA meet and greet is scheduled for Dec. 1.