Monday, April 18, 2016
Volume LIX, Issue 25
sbstatesman.com
ERIC SCHMID / THE STATESMAN
Milven Shroff, right, and Krishna Patel, left, kiss during Holi, the Hindu festival of colors, on Sunday in Mendelsohn Quad pit. At the event, hosted by the SBU Hindu Students Council, students wore white and threw colorful powder at one another to celebrate.
Senate passes 2016-2017 budget proposal By Michael Kohut Staff Writer
The Undergraduate Student Government Senate passed its budget proposal for the 2016-2017 academic year at Thursday’s senate meeting. The total amount of money allocated toward clubs with line budget status increased by about $6,800. The chair of the Elections Board, Sydney G. Bryan, took the floor once the meeting was called to order to address the recent issues with USG elections, including the voting postponement. “The person responsible for submitting the ballot on time had failed to do so,” she said, explaining why the voting period was moved from April 11-15 to April 18-22. Since then, the Elections Board has issued numerous warnings to parties participating in the election to ensure that they follow the proper protocol. The board has disqualified one candidate through an internal vote and Google poll. The email chains regarding the disqualification will likely not be released until after the election, Bryan said. “The information isn’t necessary,”
she continued when questioned about the emails by a senator who said that disclosure would be valuable for transparency. Treasurer Taylor Bouraad then took the floor to explain the budget proposal for the upcoming academic year. Notable changes include a cut in the Special Projects Contingency Fund from $10,000 to $5,000 to make room for more club spending, a $42,400 increase in administration costs and a $4,600 increase in Faculty Student Association
management costs. All clubs and organizations with line budget status submitted a budget proposal this year, but 14.85 percent of clubs saw a decrease in funding. The budget passed 20-0-0 in a unanimous vote 31 minutes into the meeting. “The budget goes through multiple checks before it gets to this point by the treasurer and four assistants,” Sen. Jan Jaminal said. “This whole thing was largely a formality.”
KRYSTEN MASSA / THE STATESMAN
USG Treasurer Taylor Bouraad, above, reads through the budget proposal before the senate unanimously passed it.
Reports reveal salmonella investigation in dining halls
By Sara Tewksbury Contributing Writer
A Stony Brook student fell ill with a confirmed case of salmonella last fall, prompting the Suffolk County Department of Health to conduct an illness investigation on Dec. 4, 2015 that focused on two restaurants, Jasmine and West Side Dining. University staff responsible for food safety have claimed to know nothing about the salmonella case, even though details of the investigation are available in publicly available inspection reports maintained at the eateries. The unidentified student fell ill in September and was diagnosed with salmonellosis by a physician and confirmed by lab results, according to the report, which does not identify the lab. It was reported to the county as required by the state sanitary code. Although there was no clear evidence of which meal caused the student to become sick, she
was interviewed by a public health nurse and reported eating tuna sushi from Jasmine three or four times a week prior to the illness, and she also ate frequently at West Side Dining, according to the reports. A Suffolk County Department of Health spokesperson declined to provide further details about the student or her illness, citing medical confidentiality laws. When asked about the salmonella case, a university spokesperson referred all questions to the Faculty Student Association, also known as FSA, which is responsible for Campus Dining Services. “Campus Dining has not received any notifications from any patron or the Suffolk County Department of Health regarding an alleged salmonella case at Jasmine,” FSA spokeswoman Angela Agnello said. George Anderson, the new campus dining sanitarian for the Continued on page 4