New proposals

• Senior Jordan Nakamura requested $2,000 to fund an interdisciplinary group photography project, which will depict archetypes that are missing in Western media. The funds, if approved, will go toward gallery, printing and framing expenses. Nakamura, who is directing the project titled “The Margin Legends,” said he hopes it will help start important conversations bridging the gap between different races and genders by addressing stereotypes through visual storytelling. Nakamura is hoping to secure one of the conference rooms in the Talbot building for displaying the project, which a sociology professor at Biola has already requested be presented to her class during the semester.

Passed

• Senators unanimously passed a proposal requesting $2,000 for the International Student Association retreat on March 23-25 and a campus-wide cultural awareness day on May 9. Sophomore Beatriz Delgadillo, Alpha East senator, said some of her residents expressed frustration that Biola was placing such a heavy emphasis on multicultural relations. Junior Dani Decena, South Horton senator, said that she believed the proposal would foster awareness for other countries’ cultures.
• The senate approved a proposal from senior Brian Ulrich requesting $1,800 to fund the premiere of the student film, “Chaisson: Quest for Oriud,” a sequel to “Chaisson: Rise of Zerad.” Senators were supportive of the proposal, which they said was community-oriented, but said they hoped an on-campus showing would also take place. The premiere is expected to draw more than 300 people and will possibly be attended by Christian actor Doug Jones, who lent his voice to the film and whose credits include “Hellboy” and “Pan’s Labyrinth.”
• Senators discussed a proposal from junior Natasha Cheeley, AS clubs director, requesting to reallocate $3,717.48 from the general AS account into the clubs account. Cheeley said the money had previously been in accounts for clubs that had been inactive for at least two years. Senators believed the reallocation would be beneficial, as clubs such as the Adventure Club, Lacrosse Club and Rugby Club have been rapidly growing. The proposal was approved by a majority vote.
• After two failed motions to table a proposal requesting a reallocation of $8,000 from the department of Marketing and Communications website redevelopment budget to the AS office manager’s budget for office improvement, senators approved the proposal for the full amount. Senators remained divided throughout the discussion, as seniors Kevin Mitchell, off-campus commuter senator, and Luke Robinson, Sigma senator, said several service chairs didn’t think new desks were needed as the current ones are still functional.Junior Janine Marderian, AS president, helped clarify the Feb. 21 proposal.

  “In the future, if [new desks] need to happen, it’ll probably come out of money that could be going towards student projects,” Marderian said. “Whereas, the money’s already set aside for MarCom, so it doesn’t actually detract from what you guys can do with contingency for this semester.”

  Senators decided by majority vote that the funds should be used, as AS had an unusually large contingency budget for the 2011-12 academic year and the leftover money from the website redevelopment budget was in MarCom’s control.