Senator At-Large Ernesto Farias (right) asks a question to Student Government Association President Denisse Molina-Castro during a meeting Sept. 9 on the Brownsville campus. The senate discussed the 2016-2017 SGA budget during new business. MICHELLE ESPINOZA/THE RIDER
BY Andrea Torres | The Rider
The Student Government Association senate has approved a fiscal year budget of $31,492.
The budget includes $5,600 in caucus division funds, which is allocated for town halls and tablings the SGA senators host.
“We have allocated the money very equally between both campuses,” said SGA President Denisse Molina-Castro, during the Sept. 9 meeting. “However, just because the budget says that you have just $400, if the senate approves to move money from one line item to another, that money can be moved around.”
Under the Caucus Division Fund, the senators-at-large at each campus will share $1,200, graduate senators at each campus will split $200 and senators for each college will share $400.
Any amendments to the budget must be presented to the senate for approval, Molina-Castro said.
Among the other line items are
— $1,500 for utilities
— $2,800 for SGA shirts
— $1,400 for the First-Year Internship program
— $2,000 for trainings
— $4,150 for promotional items
— $2,192 for transportation.
To view the SGA budget, visit the SGA V link page at www. utpa.collegiatelink.net/organization/sga/documentlibrary.
In other business, members of the Chroma student organization addressed the senate about the poor condition of the workroom in the Visual Arts Annex in Edinburg.
“There is a large surplus amount of furniture that is currently very hazardous,” Chroma President Saire Moreno said about the workroom.
The purpose of Chroma is to represent students who wish to express their artistic talents through various art forms, according to a flier from the association.
The poor conditions of the workroom can be seen through the broken chairs, sofas and various materials that are lying around and are not safe for students, Moreno said.
“We don’t have a lot of safety signs in the [Visual Arts Annex] and we need to enforce that a little bit more,” said Johnathan Ramos, Chroma secretary.
They are recommending changing the hallway area to bring proper seating, adding water bottle refill stations and adding card readers to the vending machines in the building.
The Chroma members said the workroom needs two rectangular tables, 10 chairs, three sofas, one round table, one low-rise coffee table and drafting tables.
Molina-Castro told the Chroma representatives that the senate is working on bringing new furniture but the process might take a while since there is paperwork that needs to be filled out for furniture to be approved, purchased and delivered by UTRGV.
The SGA will host “Lunch with the Deans” from noon to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday in Brownsville and Thursday in Edinburg
