The allotment of Student Government Blackberries was cut from four to one Tuesday night after SG Committee on Finance members reopened the budget debate.
Public displeasure with the BlackBerry funding prompted SG Sen. Sara Weyer to propose two amendments striking three of four BlackBerries from the SG budget.
The first amendment removed one BlackBerry from the executive branch, and the second amendment removed both BlackBerries from the legislative branch. Both amendments passed with a 3-to-2 vote split.
Weyer, a junior senator from the University College Center for Advising and Counseling, said she spoke with about 10 to 15 students and faculty members Tuesday about the BlackBerry funding.
“I overheard some students talking about [the BlackBerries],” Weyer said.
Weyer said that when she approached the students to ask for their opinions about the funding, the general opinion was to keep only one BlackBerry. Weyer said this one was needed for the executive branch to uphold their 24-hour student response guarantee.
Weyer told committee members she spoke with SG President Chris Odinet about the subject and said Odinet was not opposed to cutting the funding.
Interim Executive Assistant Crawford Leavoy spoke in favor of keeping both executive branch BlackBerries, but Odinet did not address the committee about the issue.
“It is the opinion of [the executive office] to keep both [BlackBerries],” Leavoy said.
But Odinet told The Daily Reveille that he continues to respect Senate members’ right to amend the budget.
“[Committee members] as well as [the executive branch] are looking out for the students,” Odinet said.
Graduate School Sen. Donald Hodge debated to remove the BlackBerries from the budget, repeatedly categorizing the funding as an “embarrassment.”
Hodge said he will propose an amendment tonight at the SG Senate meeting to strike the last remaining BlackBerry from the budget. The amendment would need a majority vote in the Senate to be adopted.
“We are wasting student money on this,” Hodge said. “At least this is chipping away from some of the ignorance put forth in this budget.”
Hodge said he spoke with several former SG leaders, all of whom expressed displeasure with the BlackBerry funding.
“They are all laughing at this administration and the Senate,” Hodge said.
Before the amendments passed, Hodge also presented a figure to show how he said BlackBerry funding was misused.
According to Hodge’s figures, if the original $2,400 BlackBerry funding within the budget was allowed, approximately 1,200 students would spend their entire $2 SG student fee to fund the BlackBerries.
“It is an embarrassment,” Hodge said of these figures. “We are asking for additional extravagances….”
Business College Sen. Preston Walhood spoke in favor of keeping the BlackBerries in the budget. Walhood said the funding would be better used to provide increased efficiency for the entire year, rather than to provide a one-time program for a college council.
“The legislative branch should have at least one [BlackBerry],” Walhood said.
According to both amendments, the $1,800 will be moved to the legislative contingency fund, which can be used to fund college councils or programs.
“We should move it back to the contingency and give it to the people,” Hodge said.
Also at the SG Senate meeting tonight, college council funds will be debated. With declining enrollment, council funds already face budget cuts, but the budget may be additionally cut.
Odinet’s executive administration appointments will also be subjected to Senate approval.
 
Contact Amy Brittain at [email protected]