The men's rugby team came before the student government association after an incident over Halloween weekend that questioned its status as a club during Wednesday night's meeting.
During a match at Merrimack College, an LSC player received a red card and as a result, ran naked through the audience, according to Stephanie Tyler. This player was later identified as Kyle St. John, the club's treasurer. Chris Arsenault, president of the men's rugby team, addressed the room.
"What this individual did…we are very upset; very apologetic. It's upsetting to us because we've been doing very well. There has been no hazing since we were suspended three years ago," he said. "We told the cop if he needed to arrest him to do it. We just wanted to keep playing."
The club representatives agreed that enough action had been taken by removing the player from the team and as treasurer of the club. A motion to take no action was approved.
The SGA voted to donate $1500 to the Santa Fund charity despite opposition from American Women in Radio and Television representative Suzanne Proulx.
The SGA makes an annual donation typically between $1000 and $1500, according to president Andrew Chapin. The fund is used to assist people in the community during the holiday season.
"I understand it's a nice thing to donate, but with only [roughly] $27,000 in the general fund, we don't know what we're getting for next semester. I know my club might need to request money in the future for things we had to cut out of our budget," Proulx said.
This statement was not received well by Chapin, who urged Proulx not to make decisions based on what she thinks her club might get from the SGA in the future. Other club representatives were enthusiastic about the donation. The request for $1500 for the Santa Fund was approved.
The SGA executive board and the campus activities board joined together to request money for a new computer in their office.
According to Chapin, the computers the office currently houses are old and slow, making the process of creating posters and flyers difficult. The computer the boards are looking at is a 24-inch iMac, complete with the entire Adobe Suite collection. The total cost of these items is $1575.42.
Stephanie Tyler, advisor to SGA, explained that CAB is willing to pay $200 toward the cost of the computer because the club would be using it as well.
The SGA executive board was divided on the issue. Tim Cappalli, vice president of the club, expressed hesitation about maintenance on the iMac. He said that if something malfunctioned, the computer would have to be sent to California in order to be fixed; IT would be unable to do anything. He also explained that it would be about $100 to get a larger screen for the current computer in the office.
Club representatives were divided on the issue, with many opinions about Macintosh computers and PC computers coming forth. There were also concerns that club members would not have the skills to use all the Adobe programs without an informational workshop.
The representatives voted for the executive board to come back with more information and pricing options.
In other business, the Lyndon State Track and Field club was approved. There are currently 21 members, with over half not participating in cross-country. Chris Ummer will be the advisor.
Jorge Chojolan, the director of the Miguel Asturias Academy in Guatemala addressed the SGA through a translator, thanking LSC students for their work at the school. As a gift, he presented LSC with a Guatemalan hammock to place on campus for students to enjoy.
Samantha Wolf and Madeline Champlin presented an ecological management plan for the LSC campus. Their project is being led by Professor Alan Geise.
"The goal is to manage the pond and forest areas better," Champlin said. The class is focusing on four areas of campus: the forest behind President's Hill, the plantation area, the meadow by the Brown House, and the pond in front of the SHAPE center. The plan is to increase biodiversity and ecological integrity of the natural areas on campus. This may include limiting recreation in certain areas at different times throughout the year, according to Champlin.
