SGA discusses Morriss, Safe Ride, Walmart shooting

The Student Government Association discussed a wide range of issues during the March 10 meeting, including concluding conversation on head football coach Guy Morriss' comments about The East Texan, a Safe Ride Program, the Special Olympics and last Sunday's Walmart shooting.

During the March 3 meeting, Senator Adam Haney motioned that SGA release a statement condemning the comments made by Morriss. Tolbert, under the impression that the motion had not been seconded, said the motion would not be carried out until she had an opportunity to consult her executive board.

A video of that meeting later showed Senator Nick Dizer did second Haney's motion, and it was brought up in old business during this week's meeting. Haney read a statement at the meeting officially withdrawing his motion in light of an apology by Morriss released on Monday.

"A coach is considered a mentor to his players and should hold himself to a higher standard and teach those attributes of leadership to his players," Haney said in his statement.

Haney said he now considers the matter over.

"I had a meeting yesterday with President Tolbert and Vice President Farha, and we worked out our misunderstanding," he said. "So, as far as I'm concerned we are all right. We came to an agreement."

Dizer shares this feeling. He said his actions were made with students in mind, and feels Morriss' statement was positive.

"It is resolved here in SGA," he said. "I think what definitely helped the situation was the coach going back and making his second remarks. We worried about our students not being heard, and I have been approached on several occasions by students and faculty about the issue, so I felt I was obligated to say something."

One big talking point came from a student who attended the meeting. Sophomore computer science major Clay Richardson presented the newly formed Information Technology Task Force.

"It covers a broad spectrum of stuff, but basically technology as a whole," he said. "We want to be able to fully leverage the technology that we currently have and technology that is available to serve the students at this university well."

Richardson said President Dan Jones was a proponent of this idea, as he felt it would not only be cost effective but also help attract prospective students.

"Dr. Jones really wants us to be put on the map technology wise in the future," Richardson said.

Richardson said the Task Force would evaluate the current technology on campus as well as looking into where A&M-Commerce could be.

"I believe SGA needs to be extremely involved in this, because it's all about the students," he said. "My role in the committee is to accurately represent the student body, and I believe SGA is a key component to student representation."

In officer reports, Senator Adam Sparks touched on the shooting that occurred at the Commerce Walmart March 7. He said people had been wondering about the campus alert system and how it would serve in an event such as this. Sparks said an alert would be sent to those who have signed up for it should an event similar to the shooting happen on campus.

Another officer report from Senator Nick Dizer covered the Safe Ride program. This program would serve to help students who want to avoid drinking and driving, but Dizer said it would also apply for other transportation needs. He requested student government for an estimate on the program's funding. Dizer said the area car dealership Williams Motors has offered up a van to be donated for the program.

It was announced the Special Olympics, to be held at A&M-Commerce's Memorial Stadium, will take place on April 10. SGA has been involved in the event since it began running at the university. There was no new business to be discussed in SGA before spring break.