At the AS senate meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 13, senators heard three new proposals, one regarding moving $300 from AS contingency to payroll in order to partially fund Chapel Programs, as well as budget increases for Biola Live and the upcoming Punk ‘N’ Pie event.

• Senior Sam Singery, the vice president of finance, technology and human resources, requested $300 from AS, who had agreed to partially fund certain Chapel Board positions, such as the Afterdark, Singspo and chapel coordinators. The payroll budget was approved last year for $7,072 but short the promised $7,372. By allowing the $300 to go to Chapel Programs, the amount will be even, and AS will not owe anything.
• Senior Amanda Tegtmeier, Social Board Chair, proposed a budget increase of $1,500 for the stage and generator for the annual Punk ‘N’ Pie event. They currently have $2,000. Tegtmeier cited last year’s power outage as a major reason for requesting the money, saying the smaller budget meant cutting corners in building the stage. Tegtmeier spoke with the head of Event Services, who said building a good stage will cost at least $3,500.
• Tegtmeier also requested $3,000 for the Biola Live budget. The current budget is at $250, which Tegtmeier said was used for advertising and is not enough to pay the upfront price for the discounted tickets that Biola Live works to provide for students so they can attend off-campus plays, concerts and sporting events. Previously, Biola Live was under the vice president of marketing and communications and whenever money was needed to pay upfront costs, it would come out of the vice president’s budget.

Tegtmeier said that they try to break even, rather than make money, and all funding is fully reimbursed when tickets are sold to students, unless there are remaining tickets, in which case most companies will refund the unsold tickets.

• Senators passed a pending proposal from Sept. 6, 2011, to change the title of AS secretaries to AS office assistants with a unanimous vote.
• The senate also discussed student feedback about the Biola Shuttle Service, a Biola administration program they are in the process of implementing. Senators said most students were receptive to the idea, though junior Michael Ottenad, Hart senator, said some students thought it was slightly unnecessary for shuttle rides to social places like movie theaters, since most students without cars get rides in friends’ cars.