Poorly Organized Meeting Rankles SA Clubs

The last of three Student Association club orientations drew negative reactions from club representatives who attended Sunday morning's meeting.

Complaints of the meeting being poorly organized, unaccommodating, and lacking essential materials such as handbooks and chairs were expressed throughout the different clubs and organizations under SA.

Danelle Schrader, treasurer of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, said she was unhappy with the meeting in general.

"It was very unorganized," said Schrader, a junior aerospace engineering major. "Last year all small groups were set up, with a question and answer session. This year it was 200 people shoved into one room. There weren't enough seats and not enough handbooks."

College Republicans Treasurer Duncan Stanley, a junior political science and communication major, said overall he was unsatisfied with the attention level SA has shown the clubs.

"It seems as if the meeting was put together at last minute," Stanley said. "Last year it was very well organized, and this year it was very unorganized - everybody was crammed into a room."

Stanley said many clubs addressed the issue of the referendum fee increase, and SA refused to comment on the topic.

"People kept bringing up the fee increase, and they kept saying this wasn't the place to talk about it," Stanley said. "A lot of people asked very good questions, but the best answer they got was 'Uh, we don't know.' When Jessica (Dangler, Treasurer of SA) was asked where the money would be spent, she said she had no idea."

Many of those who attended the meeting said that the failure to address the $10 fee increase for activities, along with the overall lack of organization, were their major complaints.

"They said SA is all about clubs, but they don't even know how much money will be given to the clubs," Stanley said.

Schrader said she was angry that SA refused to tell them anything about the fee increase, and to where the new funds would be allocated.

"The $10 fee increase was a huge issue and the referendum is a big deal and Burgio wasn't there to answer any questions about it," Schrader said. "My biggest problem was that Anthony Burgio didn't even bother to show up. He wasn't there to answer any questions and no one knew else knew what was going on."

Burgio, however, is not required by any SA rules to attend these orientations. According to Burgio, former president George Pape didn't attend any of the club orientations.

"The bottom line is that you can't please everyone all the time," Burgio said. "That's politics."

Burgio added that he was not concerned that a number of clubs were upset with SA after the orientation.

SA Vice President Dela Yador, however, said any discontentment from the clubs is a serious issue.

"(The clubs) are the lifeblood of our staff," Yador said. "I didn't know we got off to as much of a rough start as I'm hearing now."

"I just want to make sure the clubs are happy for as much as I can take care of," he added. "Money-wise, I'm not Richie Rich, but for this referendum I'm definitely pulling so that they can get the money they need."

Aside from the issue of the mandatory fee, club members who attended the orientation complained of logistical problems that left them with a sour taste.

Schrader's complaints included an unreadable projector during presentations, a blatantly late start for the meeting, and no contact sheet or itinerary.

John Casey, UB Robotics treasurer and a senior mechanical engineering major, said he thought the meeting was somewhat unorganized, and not very accommodating.

"It started off unorganized," Casey said. "It was hard waking up for a ten o'clock meeting, and it didn't even start until eleven."

Casey also said SA was trying to veer away from the fee increase issue.

"I'm not sure if they were trying to purposely stay away from the issue because maybe they didn't have the answer, or they didn't want to talk about it because it wasn't the point of the meeting," he said.

Some club members said the complaints about the meeting were unwarranted.

"(The orientation) was kind of waste of time, but I didn't have any problems with it," said Dale Gerbetz, a senior civil engineering major and UB Roller Hockey club president.

Gerbetz said the orientation was just repetitive information, and that the mandatory fee shouldn't have been brought up in the first place.

"It didn't have anything to do with the orientation. People were basically just complaining, and I didn't see any reason for them to complain," he said.

Another club president, however, who wished to remain anonymous, said the issue of the fee needs to be addressed.

"It was poorly organized, and every time anyone asked anything, they (SA) kind of just tried to move onto what they wanted to talk about," he said. "Every question about the fee was responded with, 'This isn't the time or the place.'"

According to Vice President Yador, club members have had plenty of chances to ask questions, including after orientations, at last week's fee rally and at club council meetings.

Furthermore, Yador said the issue of where the money goes is in the Senate's hands, not his or the E-board's.

"I don't have any control over it. I just hope the Senate sees it as important as we do to put the money towards the clubs," he said.

Yador added that he was deeply distressed to hear such rancor from SA's clubs.

"If the clubs don't feel their questions are answered, then all these promotions we're having and the rally, it's all for naught," he said.

~Additional Reporting by News Editor Jeremy G. Burton.