USG senators resign, cite personal reasons

Written By Alex Grubbs, USG Beat Writer

Three senators stepped down from their positions in Point Park’s student government, citing personal reasons for their resignations.

Senators Mario Avila, Sarah Campbell and Gracey Evans resigned from United Student Government (USG) as the second fall budget allocation remains a work in progress. Including the president pro-tempore position, this accounts for nearly 23 percent of the legislative body resigning.

According to a USG press release, “USG would like to extend a thank you for their time and wish them luck in their future endeavors at Point Park.”

The resignations were not formally recognized during the meeting.

The governing body continued business as usual at Monday’s meeting with the fall semester’s second allocation, followed by some budget issues. It voted to send the Body Christian Fellowship’s budget back to its finance committee after a money dispute.

According to the budget sheet given to all senators, the organization initially requested $1,482 for their jubilee event. However, on the same sheet, it also said the organization requested $2,000 for the event.

Sen. Shayna Mendez moved to send the recommendation back to USG’s financial committee.

“I have no problem with [the amount],” Mendez said. “[But] I want to know the current amount being requested. It’s a large amount, and I don’t want to necessarily overfund.”

Due to the dispute, the legislative body voted unanimously to send the budget recommendation back to the finance committee for further review to verify the requested amount.

Treasurer Amedea Baldoni did not attend the meeting and could not directly verify the discrepancy due to her absence.

Thirty-one clubs and organizations’ budgets were overseen and approved at the meeting. Of the $18,897 clubs and organizations requested, USG allotted only $14,962.

Phi Beta Lambda (PBL), a business leadership organization, took the largest budget slash from USG. The organization initially requested $2,539, and USG gave it $1,857, which is $682 less than the initial request.

PBL requested this money for marketing supplies, a resume building workshop, a movie night, an event and member induction. USG recommended less money for the organization’s marketing supplies and no money for its movie night.

Strong Women, Strong Girls also took a cut from its proposed budget. The organization initially requested $1,573 and received only $1,145. USG recommended a lesser amount for its marketing, events and “strong sisters” requests.

Parliamentarian Charles Murria said that any budget appeals from clubs and organizations should be sent to Baldoni for review at next week’s meeting. The submission deadline for appeals is Sunday.

USG’s communication committee announced former USG press secretary Emily Yount as its graphic design coordinator after weeks of interviews.

Its forum will be held Friday, Nov. 4 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. in the Lawrence Hall Ballroom to reach out to students.