SRA Meeting live blog: Motions for year-end celebration denied

Welcome to the live-blog of the Student Representative Assembly (SRA) meeting for October. You can watch the event live at this link, or in the embedded player below. Online reporter Shane Madill will update this post as the proceedings occur You can also get live updates on our Twitter page.

6:50 p.m. - Technical issues with the projector is causing a delay. 15 minute presentation followed by a 15 minute question period from the Ontario Public Interest Research Group-McMaster (OPIRG) to come.

7:07 p.m. - Questioning period has now concluded for the OPIRG projected expenses presentation. Most questions were directed at the issue of opt-outs. The total projected programming expenses totals $107,042. Full-time undergraduate students were charged $7.47 as a refundable levy.

7:15 p.m. – Announcement of a new annual open accessibility forum on Nov. 27 in CIBC Hall, intended as a safe space to discuss issues, and to gather feedback about accessibility from McMaster students.

7:28 p.m. - Work is being done on a campaign for minority groups to better express their voices and opinions on campus. Other priorities stated by MSU president Teddy Saull also include safety on campus, and the importance of a response coordinator.

7:31 p.m. - A reminder of the upcoming Hamilton mayoral elections, and the MSU mayoral debate taking place in MUSC on Oct. 22 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the MUSC Atrium. More information can be found here.

8:20 p.m. - After discussion on Women and Gender Equity Network (WGEN) and other issues, the committee has passed a vote to re-adjust the ordering of the agenda.

8:30 p.m. - Saull withdraws motion to allocate $215,000 to Campus Events towards a year-end celebration. There are still two more options for $170,000 or $95,000 that are in play.

8:45 p.m. - Discussion from Saull about the background behind the year-end celebration motion. Lack of details attributed to "not wanting to put the cart before the horse," and wanting to first discuss motion to garner feedback.

10:50 p.m. - Options 2 ($170,000) and 3 ($95,000) for the year-end celebration have both failed to pass by tallies of 0-24-4 and 7-15-5 respectively.

11:10 p.m. - Motion passed unanimously to expend $10,000 to increase the capacity of the 2015 Frost Week concert.

11:17 p.m. - Motion passed unanimously for CFMU hardware upgrades with a cost of $9,395.92.

12:35 p.m. - Motion to recommend a one-week break beginning in the fall of 2015 to the Fall Break Committee passes by a tally of 18-9-1.