SPS Paintball
The Society of Physics Students presented a bill requesting $1000 to fund a paintball social for undergraduate students, graduate students, and professors. Leaders of the organization are seeking to revive the club, which has been dead for some time, by organizing a unique social event to encourage greater club participation and increased membership.
“I think the collaboration between faculty members and the student body is encouraged at the institute level,” said Marius Balla, bill author and a fourth-year AE major. “This bill was supported by the chair of the physics department who sponsored $500 to show his encouragement. And who doesn’t want to shoot their physics professor in a paintball match?”
The bill ultimately failed in GSS due to concerns that were raised regarding the fact that the paintball event would have no measurable academic value, despite a rebuttal from Christopher Foy, President of the Society of Physics Students and a third-year PHYS major.
“There did not seem to me to be a clear reasoning on why it didn’t meet policy,” Foy said. He further argued that the organization is not merely an academic club, but one that also works to foster social networking within the school.
Similar debate was also raised during the UHR meeting, especially in regards to the lack of social interaction between students and professors provided by a paintball match.
The bill had both staunch supporters and adversaries, but received an overwhelming 86 percent vote to pass the bill in UHR, which was significant enough to overturn the original failure of the bill in GSS.
SPS also requested and received funding to sponsor a visit to the Livingston Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory located in southern LA. This bill passed without significant debate in either house.
Night at the Woodruff
Because JFC was unable to give recommendation to the bill regarding GT Night at the Woodruff during the UHR meeting, SGA bylaws prohibited the bill from being brought to a vote.
However, the GSS did vote on the bill earlier in the day, which brought about a debate regarding the bylaws and JFC policy.
The bill was ultimately postponed until further JFC action could be taken.
Lacrosse Uniforms
The Men’s Lacrosse Club submitted a bill requesting $12,375 to replace the uniforms and helmets for its 45-member team.
As helmet warranties were set to expire this season barring further action, as well as the fact that the letters on uniforms have reportedly begun to wear from the continuous violence of the sport, the team felt that it needed these items to be better prepared for next season.
Both houses passed the bill without significant debate, though one UHR representative suggested the possible addition of SGA logos to team uniforms. The organizational representative explained that this was not possible due to conference regulations against such sponsorships.
Plane Refurbishment
The Yellow Jacket Flying Club (YJFC) secured funding to refurbish a training aircraft. One of four planes owned by the YJFC, the trainer aircraft had not been refurbished in over thirty years. Avionics failures were a primary safety concern, as well as corrosion from worn paint.
“[This refurbishment] will substantially decrease the transition time of student pilots from one airplane to the other, not to mention standardize our fleet,” said Dustin Kilgore, president of the YJFC and fourth-year AE student. “These safety improvements are crucial for the YJFC to continue to operate two trainer aircraft and allow sufficient access for anyone in the Tech community to pilot training.”
This will be the second trainer aircraft to be refurbished in the past year. The YJFC has also received additional outside funding for both refurbishments from the Krone Foundation.