A new and improved film program will be available for ISU students beginning in the fall 2011 semester.

The Cinema Project Round Two bill was discussed and voted on at the Government of the Student Body meeting Wednesday night.

The bill proposed a combination of the Student Union Board and Free Friday Flicks film programs into one program.

One of the problems with the existing film programs is that they are not at set locations and times, which can be confusing for students, said Nate Dobbels, speaker of the senate and senior in agricultural and life sciences education.

The new program will be held in Carver 101 each weekend of the academic year with pre-release movies shown twice Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings.

Anthony Maly, former GSB finance director and senior in political science, said another problem with the current programs is that freshmen and incoming students do not know the full extent of the film program at Iowa State.

“It’s very hard for them as students to really realize what’s going on,” Maly said.

The bill requested $80,000 to fund the program. The funding would cover:

One-time items:

• Projector (8,000 to 10,000 Lumens)
• Screen
• Sound equipment
• Equipment and installation
• Contingency

Year one costs:

• Room wear and tear
• Custodial
• Movie player
• Movie costs

Dobbels said both SUB and Free Friday Flicks support the program.

“Combining the two resources for one main purpose that will show movies for free for our students is a good idea,” said Rene Hamilton, president of Free Friday Flicks and senior in aerospace engineering.

Sawyer Baker, liberal arts and sciences senator and sophomore in political science, asked if this program was being proposed simply because the Cyclone Cinema project failed and GSB was looking for a way to spend its money.

Dobbels said GSB is not just looking for a way to spend the money because they have it, but rather they want to spend it because it will offer an alternative entertainment option to students.

“It is not just an extension of the first project because the project didn’t fail,” Dobbels said.

By a vote of 27-4-0, the bill passed.

Also on the agenda was an amended version of the Connecting with Constituents bill.

Spencer Hughes, vice speaker of the senate and open-option freshman, said the amendments were made in order to clarify the purpose and requirements of the bill.

“We wanted to get some structure to this and make sure that it was actually worthwhile going forward,” Hughes said.

The amendments made to the bill included:

• Each GSB senator must attend at least one student organization once each month during the months of September through November and January through April.
• If a senator cannot attend a meeting during that month, they may attend two meetings during the preceding or following month to make up for it.
• Senators cannot attend a student organization meeting that was previously attended by another senator in order to fulfill the requirement.
• Senators must introduce themselves to the organization at the meeting.
• Senators must report to the chairperson of the Public Relations Committee before attending the student organization meeting.
• GSB meetings do not count as a student organization meeting.

Hughes said the decision to require senators to attend student organization meetings that have not yet been attended is meant to increase interaction between students and GSB.

“We don’t want to see multiple senators going to meetings other senators are going to because we want to connect with as many students as possible,” Hughes said.

The amendment to the bill passed by unanimous consent.

An amendment was made to the amended bill by Erik Manatt, off-campus senator and graduate in materials science and engineering. The amendment stated that students may also attend an event offered by a student organization to fulfill the requirement, if first approved by the speaker of the senate.

The amendment passed.

Many senators argued about the feasibility and time requirement of the bill.

Eric Harms, off-campus senator and senior in material engineering, said a bill should not be needed to get senators to go out and connect with students. Senators should already be doing that as part of their duties as elected GSB members.

“It shouldn’t take 68 lines to make you fulfill your duties and do the right thing,” Harms said.

Baker said this bill may lead student organizations to think that senators are only attending their meeting because they are required to and not because they want to.

“Groups are going to know that if we contact them, it’s probably because we’re required to,” Baker said.

Sean Morrissey, off-campus senator and senior in environment science, suggested having a test run of the program to see how it goes before enacting it as a bill.

“I would rather see a voluntary pilot program, this way we can see what works and what doesn’t work,” Morrissey said. “I think we’re really underestimating the time that this is going to take.”

Trevor Brown, Campustown senator and junior in construction engineering, said senators should not be a part of GSB if they cannot find the time to attend one student organization each month.

“If you can’t give the time for one meeting a month or two meetings a month and none the next, do you really have the time to represent GSB to the best of your ability?” Brown said. “Do you really have the time to represent your constituents to the best of your ability?”

Dobbels said it would be “ridiculous” to fail the bill because it would be showing GSB senators’ constituents that they failed to do their job in representing them.

“We need people who have time for GSB. We need people who have time for their constituents,” Dobbels said.

After more than two and one half hours of debate, the bill passed by a vote of 22-8-0.

Several GSB senator seats and committee positions were also filled at the meeting.

Those positions included:

• College of Business Senator — Emily Walker, senior in finance
• Special Student Fee and Tuition Committee Senator — Eric Harms, off-campus senator and senior in material engineering
• University Affairs Committee members:

1. Jacob Swanson, Inter-Residence Hall Association senator and sophomore in public service and administration in agriculture
2. Molly Bryant, Panhellenic senator and freshman in psychology
3. Jordan Hutchens, engineering senator and junior in construction engineering
4. Sam Jurgena, Inter-Residence Hall Association senator and freshman in political science
5. Adam Guenther, Inter-Residence Hall Association senator and sophomore in animal science
6. Erica Gonnerman, design senator and freshman in pre-architecture
7. Kris Michalson, veterinary medicine and first-year veterinary medicine

• Public Relations Committee members:

1. Austin Ballhagen, off-campus senator and senior in journalism and mass communication
2. Rajin Olson, engineering senator and senior in civil engineering
3. Tia Foss, human sciences senator and freshman in child, adult and family services
4. Ayushman Kumar, Frederiksen Court senator and freshman in industrial engineering
5. Diane Fru, Inter-Residence Hall Association and freshman in psychology
6. Andrew Edson, agriculture and life sciences senator and junior in agricultural business
7. Hana Yoon, off-campus senator and junior in biology

• Finance Committee members:

1. Daniel Rediske, liberal arts and sciences senator and sophomore in pre-computer science
2. Scott Connell, engineering senator and junior in computer engineering
3. Samuel Epley, liberal arts and sciences senator and sophomore in economics