ON THURSDAY, THE E-BOARD APPROVED new carpeting in the Mueller Center. (file photo)On Thursday, October 19, the Executive Board held their seventh meeting of the semester. The first item on the agenda was a proposal from the men’s club soccer team, which needed money to attend the regional tournament in New Castle, Delaware this weekend. While the players already planned to pay for the trip out of their own pockets, they requested money from the Executive Board to subsidize the overall cost. The total cost of the trip was quoted at $7,847, which covers the tournament entry fee, lodging for two nights, and the charter bus. A motion to allocate $4,000 from the Union’s travel contingencies fund for this trip passed with a vote of 15-0-2.
Following club soccer, the RPI Players Technical Director Nick Karalexis ’19 gave a presentation outlining the Players’ plans to replace the president’s Holiday Concert with a stage production of Peer Gynt, an adaptation Karalexis described as “fitting for the Players as an organization.”
While the Holiday Concert is normally completely funded by the president’s office, the Players determined that this new production would require additional funding from the Union. The Players’ proposal was broken down into three major parts, resulting in three subsequent motions.
The first part of the proposal was the reallocation of money to the concert’s production budget. Karalexis quoted a need of $1,200 for various set pieces, costumes, and other production expenses. A motion to reallocate $1,200 from the Union’s club contingencies fund for the production of Peer Gynt passed with a vote of 16-0-1.
The second part was the hiring of artist Doug Fitch as a consultant for the production. Karalexis emphasized that Fitch is a seasoned theater professional with an extensive background as a puppeteer. Fitch’s consulting cost was quoted at $2,400 for two day-long sessions with the Players. Karalexis mentioned that Fitch did similar consulting work for SUNY Buffalo which ran upwards of $20,000, and that RPI’s price was due to Fitch’s relationship to Department of the Arts Professor Nick DeMaison. A motion to reallocate $1,200 from the Performing Arts Budget to the HASS department for Doug Fitch passed with a vote of 15-0-2.
The final part of the proposal was requesting $1,200 for additional professional musicians to play alongside students in the orchestra. A motion to reallocate $1,200 from the Union’s student activities special events budget to the HASS department for the purposes of bringing in additional orchestra members passed with a vote of 10-4-3.
Steve Allard, director of the Mueller Center, programs, and club sports, then came before the Board asking the board for $9,741 to recarpet the Mueller Center’s lounge over this coming winter holiday. Allard mentioned that the lounge’s current carpet is approximately 18 years old. He also emphasized that the replacement carpet will help unify the Mueller Center’s aesthetic and will be of a higher quality than the current carpet. A motion to allocate $9,741 from the Union’s facilities budget to this project passed with a vote of 17-0-0.
Allard’s director report included news that the position of assistant director of the Mueller Center and wellness has been filled. He also mentioned that interviews for the assistant director of student activities are happening during this week.
The last major item on the agenda was bylaws changes presented by Policies Chairperson Anissa Choiniere ’20. All of the changes were to the committees section of the Executive Board bylaws. The proposed changes update language to require joint committee chairpeople to be appointed by the grand marshal and president of the Union, and then confirmed with majority votes of both the Senate and Executive Board. Some duties of the Policies Committee were moved to the new Club Operations Committee, which is now a standing committee. The changes also added language that requires the Rules and Elections Committee to have a representative from the Executive Board.
The Executive Board will meet on Thursday at 8 pm in the Rensselaer Union’s Shelnutt Gallery.