The controversial class gift project survived a storm of criticism Wednesday night when a resolution to rescind the bill was struck down, 11 to 29, at this week’s Student Government Senate meeting. The 2010 Class Gift Project, or the Graduate Walk, gained much attention during the past week after the Senate passed bill for the Chancellor’s approval without the opt-out clause, which would have given students the choice to not purchase an engraved brick on the walk.The resolution includes a mandatory $30 fee for graduating seniors to fund a brick engraved with the graduate’s name to be placed in the sidewalk around the Parade Ground. The project would ultimately be a tradition for each graduating class and could include classes for as much as the next 20 years.Graduate School Senator Niki Hansen spoke out first against the Graduate Walk and proposed to rescind the bill and bring the resolution to a student vote.”I would rather choose how to spend my money,” Hansen said. “Students should have the right to chose how to spend their money. I don’t oppose the Graduate Walk, but I do oppose the fact that we didn’t allow them to have a choice.”The Senate debated the bill, but eventually voted down the rescindment to bring the Graduate Walk back to the drawing board.The plans to add a mandatory $30 fee, which the Senate sent to the Chancellor’s Office to approve last week, will stay with the Chancellor unchanged. Speaker of the Senate Tyler Martin spoke in favor of the Graduate Walk to not include the opt-out clause.”This is the best thing for LSU,” Martin said “The Graduate Walk would be a great recruiting tool for our University. Five-thousand to 6,000 potential students visit this University each year.”Basic Sciences Senator Brandon Jones felt strongly to rescind and send the bill to a student vote.”We had the audacity to think we can make the decision on this without consulting the students,” Jones said. “I felt that, with the people I talked to, no one said that this idea was a bad idea. They just felt like they wanted a choice.”SG Director of Sustainability Cas Smith said he thought the $30 fee should not be mandatory.”I do know [the chancellor] won’t not sign it unless Senate rescinds the bill,” Smith said. “I know testing all these things out has been hell for y’all, but I think students should have the right to vote.”Jeffrey Wale, College of Arts and Sciences senator, also authored a bill to clarify the University’s policy on canceling school for snow days.Senate debated how much snow should qualify as being dangerous for students to drive to school and eventually tabled the bill.”We want to look out for safety of students,” Wale said. “We have to decide if you’re going to come in snow and put ourselves in danger or come on Saturday.”—-Contact Catherine Threlkeld at [email protected]