Eligible 10,000 Hours Show volunteers will now have the option of free transportation to their free rock concert.

Most of Wednesday night’s meeting was spent debating a bill that would fund transportation for eligible volunteers of the 10,000 Hours Show to the organization’s free concert to be held in Des Moines on April 11, 2007. The 10,000 Hours Show is a group that promotes students to volunteer by holding a free concert for those individuals who have volunteered at least 10 hours at a non-profit organization.

GSB Finance Director and graduate student in civil, construction, and environmental engineering Jason Carroll warned the senate to consider the big picture when deciding on this bill. Although it was a good cause, since this bill would be indirectly funding students to get involved in the community, it could set a pattern of groups asking for money that doesn’t directly benefit students.

“Think about the trend this sets forth,” he said.

Matthew Mead, junior in chemistry and executive director for business of the 10,000 Hours Show explained the reason the concert is being held out Drake University’s Knapp Center. Because of the tremendous support the organization had received from Drake, the concert will be held there this year. Drake’s Student Activites Board took over the role of planning the concert and gave them permission to use the Knapp Center and access to a professional booking agent for a very small cost.

GSB senator and graduate student in biochemistry, biophysics, and molecular biology Adam Krupicka proposed an amendment to lower the funding to $280. He did this because a group going through regular allocations requesting transportation funding would be given $280. Although this project would be coming from the senate discretionary fund and does not follow these same guidelines, Krupicka said it would be good to consider.

GSB senator, junior in civil engineering and author of the bill, Thomas Danielson, opposed the amendment.

“I think this is too much of a cut,” he said.

GSB senator and graduate student in biochemistry, biophysics, and molecular biology-agriculture Michelle Bohan proposed an amendment to the amendment to fund the group $450. Usually GSB funds half of the money a group needs, and this is the reason Bohan did this.

GSB senator and senior in management Michael Wampler said it was pretty late in the year to worry about setting precedents, but understood where both sides were coming from.

After Ian Guffy, GSB senator and senior in computer science asked if transportation was offered last year, Mead explained it wasn’t, but only 50 percent of those eligible to go to the concert had attended. Respondents on the exit survey indicated a request for provided transportation this year, so the group decided to offer it.

Guffy said because the group decided to hold the concert at Drake, the 10,000 Hours Show should be responsible for dealing with the consequences.

After much debate, Krupicka proposed to create a blank. A blank gives the opportunity for senators to propose an amount they wish to fund. After the suggestions, members vote on the proposed amounts until a majority is reached. After the new amounts were proposed, the original amount of $900 received a majority, and no amendment was made.

Many senators expressed support for the bill because the group promotes such a good cause.

Director of Development of the 10,000 Hours Show and graduate in business administration Jonathan Greenlee encouraged the senate to vote to fund the group.

“It’s for an excellent, excellent cause,” he said.

The bill passed by a vote of 21-3-4.

Also at Wednesday night’s meeting, Megan Merrill, freshman in political science was seated as a new GSB senator.

The Iowa State Daily contract was up for first read at Wednesday night’s meeting. GSB speaker and senior in chemical engineering Jonathan Richardson said the Daily publication board would be giving a presentation as part of next week’s programs. He said senators should talk to their constituents about their feelings about the Daily and be ready to discuss the contract next week.

GSB director of student affairs and senior in sociology Shallee Keenan announced GSB is now taking nominations for its annual GSB awards. Nominations can be made for individuals, faculty members or student organizations that make a difference. The applications are available online, and are due at 5 p.m. on March 30. The awards will be given out at GSB Inauguration on April 9.

President and senior in political science, Emily Jensen, and ex-officio City Council liaison and senior in political science, Craig Buske, both made announcements about the student affairs commission. Jensen said the next meeting would be Thursday.

Buske said the commission has made a lot of progress on the three issues it had been working on: public restrooms in Campustown, cleaning up Campustown and the lack of activities for underage individuals. He said the commission needed more ideas to work on and urged the senators with ideas to contact him.