Monday’s two-hour Student Association meeting revolved around online software for student organizations called Symplicity, but SA’s Finance Board rejected a request for $9,500 to fund the software, sending back the bill with $0 allocated for its funding.

The program is the ‘next step forward for student organizations,’ said Mike Fleishman, a senior information studies and political science major. It could serve as the home base for all student organizations, Fleishman said.

SA sent a bill to the Finance Board asking for money from the special programming budget to buy the software, but when the bill was sent back without funding, SA rejected the finance board’s decision.

Sacha Forgenie, SA’s comptroller and sponsor of this bill, explained the Finance Board ‘felt it was a lot of money that should be used for other programs.’

SA President Marlene Goldenberg supported the future implementation of Symplicity and asked the assembly to fail the bill to supply $0 for the program. Goldenberg said the Symplicity software would cut down on various other fees. It would also offer free publicity for student organizations that get cut out of the budget every year, she said.

Fleishman showed a demonstration of Symplicity in an attempt to highlight its advantages.

Symplicity’s features include online elections, form management, group calendars, submission of ads and flyers and virtual advisor signing so that every student organization could become ‘paperless.’

‘This is the way the world is going, and we need to follow it,’ Fleishman said.

The meeting continued with a presentation by Alec Sim, a junior economics, finance and music history major, on the conditions of Crouse College. He said he wants to create awareness for the poor conditions music students are faced with each day in the building. Examples ranged from leaky pipes and loose hanging wires to paint and water damage in parts of the building.

Sim said music students do not have proper technology. He explained that the Setnor School of Music has more than 300 music majors but they have outdated pianos and walls are not soundproof.

He proposed his ideal renovation plan for Crouse College, including improved physical appearance, smart classrooms and stabilized temperature.

Though the SA consensus was that Sim had a valid case, some members expressed concern that his plans were ‘unreasonable’ and suggested he had a better chance of seeking change if he requested smaller changes like new carpets and soundproof walls, rather than a new facility.

Sim ended his presentation with a line from the vision statement of Scholarship In Action that states, ‘Discovery and learning at Syracuse University must have no physical boundaries.’

Goldenberg has gone with Sim to meet Chancellor Nancy Cantor regarding the condition of Crouse College and has since sought out other administrative authorities.

A group of music students also attended the meeting.

‘My violin costs more than my car, and it gets dripped on during practice,’ said Amanda Lieberman, a senior music major. ‘We don’t need swivel chairs or plasma screens, we just need a place to practice.’

In other news, Dean Thomas Wolfe spoke at the beginning of the meeting about his goals for the Division of Student Affairs. He said he wants to work more collaboratively with the department of Academic Affairs, and that collaboration was a driving force between all of his decisions as dean.

A member of the Student Association asked Wolfe about his rumored ‘open-door policy.’ He told SA his door is always open for students

‘Our primary relationship is with students,’ Wolfe said. ‘We cannot do our work if we don’t know what you’re thinking.’

mequalte@syr.edu

Published on September 22, 2008 at 12:00 pm