Financing SMU’s intramural sports program was a highly debated topic at Tuesday’s Student Senate meeting.
 

Jack Harper, the assistant director of intramurals and sports clubs, originally requested $10,000 from the senate to pay student officials for the intramural sports programs.
 

According to Harper, participation in SMU intramurals has increased and the majority of the extra funds will help cover training costs for student officials, as well as help with hiring additional officials and supporting their hours.
 

The students are paid during their training, which Harper said is an incentive to get students interested.  Without it, many students wouldn’t participate.   
 

“Student officials are an invaluable part of the program,” Harper said, adding that the amount of athletes in the intramural program has “increased by 300 unique individuals” from last year.  
 

Senator Joseph Esau, an official for SMU intramurals, spoke in favor of the additional funding.
 

“I cannot tell you how valuable it is to have those training sessions,” Esau said.  “Cutting money is not only going to hurt us, but hurt students the most.”
 

Esau said on a personal note that the program taught him important lessons, such as time management and interpersonal skills.
 

Some senators, however, disagreed with the request, citing an already decreasing amount of funds.
 

Austin Prentice, a member of the finance committee said, “That’s going to just cripple us.”
Finance chair Josh Espinosa said the finance committee has already approved $7,500 for intramurals and the additional $2,500, which will cause a strain on the budget.
 

The budget will be around $23,000 for the remainder of the committee’s meetings if the intramural program is given the money.

Student Body President Patrick Kobler called for a compromise among the school, the intramural program and the students, stating: “This is something that should be paid for by the university.”

The Senate voted to set aside the issue until their next meeting, at which point they will vote on whether or not to approve the funds.

The Senate also addressed financial difficulties in a piece of legislation regarding purchasing textbooks that Chief of Staff Alex Ehmke introduced to the Senate.

The proposal calls for professors to submit a final copy of their textbook list to the SMU bookstore two weeks before classes begin.

With this system, students can find cheaper alternatives to the SMU bookstore before classes begin.

Ehmke said that a personal experience as an resident assistant inspired this legislation, when a “student broke down in my room crying,” because she couldn’t buy her books.