GSB to discuss technological enhancements

Allison Suesse —

A response to the Government of the Student Body President Daniel Fischer’s connection to the FarmHouse accident will be discussed at Wednesday’s GSB meeting.

The Daily reported earlier this week that Fischer lived in the apartment Kaleb Stebens, freshman in open option-Liberal Arts and Sciences, visited the night he fell from a third story window at FarmHouse fraternity. Fischer has since moved out.

Jonathan Turk, speaker of the Senate, LAS senator and junior in political science, said the issue “will be brought up” and senators will most likely have questions for Fischer.

Fischer said he plans to tell the Senate that he “thinks it’s best for everyone to go on with the goals of the organization, rather than dwell on the distraction.”

Joseph Baye, one of Fischer’s former roommates and junior in mechanical engineering, was cited in the case for failure to prevent consumption.

Discussions regarding Dance Marathon’s request for $199 for a desktop computer to manage finances will also take place at Wednesday’s meeting.

Two years ago, the organization requested $2,807 for an Apple computer, said Tom Danielson, GSB finance director and senior in civil engineering. The organization requested the computer in order to be more efficient at designing, video editing and graphic design. The bill passed in the Senate two years ago, Danielson said.

Last year, Dance Marathon returned to GSB looking for funds for a computer, but was turned down. This year, they are returning to the senate in order to receive funds for a new desktop computer to “manage finances” Danielson said. The computers they are using now are “too old” and “too slow” to be useful, Danielson said.

Bryce Rockers, senior in finance and treasurer of Dance Marathon, said GSB was not able to fund their request for a desktop PC last year as the request was made toward the end of the year.

The GSB finance committee is also considering the prospective addition of new equipment to the Underground’s bowling lanes, including new scoring and ball return systems, at a cost of $104,000.

“Since it’s a project dealing with a larger amount of money, we’ll need to discuss it further,” Danielson said. The bill will be held in finance committee for another few weeks in order to work out the details of the expense.

The scoring system requires two parts, an LCD screen system and the system’s actual software. Therefore, GSB’s budget will not be able to fund all three pieces of equipment, Turk said.

He said the project was discussed last year, but the overall cost of the project was misjudged as costing less than the actual price.

Despite the cost, Turk said GSB is “always looking for projects to benefit students directly.”

Turk said he assures the student body that GSB is spending money responsibly. He said the project “is feasible, and the funds are there.”