SGA voted 20-16 against a bylaw amendment that would have expanded the authorized use of the Student Activity Fee Allocation (SAFA) money to pay for events used to recruit students.

"The SAFA fee is for students, not prospective students," said Jack Phillips, SGA's executive vice-president of finance. Expanding the use of the money would mean less money for student organizations, Phillips said.

"If we don't fully fund events, they don't happen," Phillips said.

Senator-at-Large Michael Murphy said he opposed to the the amendment because he was concerned it was "overreaching" because the events are organized by students.

Senior Class President T.J. Beringer supported the amendment.

"It's important for us to keep the money that our students are paying in the hands of our students," Beringer said.

In other business:

• SGA members will meet with Hank Phelps to discuss expansion of the Student Center. SGA Executive President Austin Hall said the Student Center "is not big enough" and that "it's an issue of space."
• SGA added $5 to every students' Bearcard this semester to pay for up to 100 copies in Torreyson Library. SGA conducted a survey last fall and found that free printing was a central concern among students.

"This printing credit is something that students have been asking for and deserve to get," Junior Class President Paige Turner said. "I'm glad that the students can see their demands come to fruition and that SGA had something to do with it."

You can read the minutes of Monday's SGA meeting here.

“We do this every year," said David Saterfield, president of NABMU."This year we want to expand our influence on campus.”

NABMU is a national nonprofit organization formed to help African-American men graduate from college but the  organization is open to everyone, regardless of  gender or race. NABMU Week is designed to educate students about some of the main issues that lead to college dropouts.

Here is the schedule of events for this week:

• Monday - How to be Successful in America. Student Center, Room 213. 7 p.m.
• Tuesday - Faculty Appreciation Program. Student Center, Room 213. 7 p.m.
• Wednesday - Prejudice in America student panel discussion. Student Center, Room 214. 7 p.m.
• Thursday - Music on the Yard. Student Center Courtyard. X-period.
• Friday - Member social. Student Center, Room 214.

NABMU will be pairing with PRISM Wednesday night for a “Prejudice in America” program and collecting donations for a scholarship during the "Music in the Yard" event.

All the events are free and open to everyone.

The expansion would almost double the size of the 48,732-square-foot facility. The plan includes adding a 25-yard swimming pool, four raquetball courts, a fitness center, aerobic rooms, a climbing wall, a lounge, lockers and offices.

SGA voted 35-1 to support the plan. It was one of three options presented last week by David Dennis, director of campus recreation. The Student Life committee of SGA reviewed the three plans, which ranged from $10 to $17 million, and recommended the $14.5 million plan.

The $10 million plan didn't include the swimming pool. That plan would have raised fees by about $40 a semester. The $17 million plan, which would more than double the size of the facility, included an Olympic-size pool and raised fees by about $65 a semester.

The vote included an amendment that SGA would support the cheaper plan if the university rejected the $14.5 million plan.

SGA also voted to recommend increasing the Student Center fee by $1.50 per student over the next three semesters. The fee would increase by $1 per student next semester and 25 cents per student in each of the next two semesters. It would be the first fee increase for the Student Center since the building opened in 1994.

To accompany the fee increases, SGA passed a resolution ranking the priority of the fees. They ranked the Student Center fee as top priority followed by the HPER Center fee. Proposed fee increases for the Writing Center and Academic Success Center were given lowest priority.

In other business, SGA unanimously approved an amendment to their travel funding laws, making the process for getting the money more strict. The amendment requires that all requests for travel money be approved by a three-fourths majority of the Finance Committee and the full Senate.

HPER Center

SGA Vice-President of Finance Kyle Boyd said the change made sense because of changes to SAFA funding last semester that made funding for travel more strict. Boyd said that if the travel funding is important enough to go around their new rules, it must be done with an overwhelming majority.

Their class representatives in the Student Government Association have introduced plans to add space for students in the Student Center and to offer a new cable television channel that will allow students to order movies.

Josh McDonald, freshman class president, said there were plans to convert an old dining room in the Student Center into an activity room with a TV.  McDonald said the room, which will have tables and chairs for studying, can be used by students as an alternative to the study lounge on the second floor of the Student Center.  They hope to have the room ready by March 2011.

The representatives are also trying to strike a deal with Conway Corporation to get a movie channel in residence halls that allows students to order movies. This idea arose after the previous freshman class representatives attempted to get a Redbox on campus last year.  Arkansas Tech University has a movie channel that will serve as a model for the UCA program.

McDonald said the movie channel should be available sometime next semester. The funding for this project will come from the Student Activity Fee.

A crowd of over 100 spectators gathered, some in awe and some aghast, to witness the sexual dance moves of Amelia Cortez. Cortez, adorned in fishnet stockings, a red lace boa and little else flaunted all she had while lip-syncing to the blaring sounds of Beyonce and Ciara.

The spectacle was a drag show organized and hosted by the UCA PRISM Alliance as one of a series of events for Coming Out Week.

Offstage, Cortez is known as Kanai Namauu, a 23-year-old student here. But onstage, her drag persona named Amelia dominated with pulsating energy. Cortez approached some intrigued audience members and danced with them at point-blank range. At one point, with her mouth, she accepted dollar bills out of the mouth of another man. To put it mildly, Cortez, with a doubtlessly confident stage persona, rocked the worlds of a mass of UCA students.

Some audience members couldn't get enough of the impassioned performance. Others watched for a moment, then walked away.

The show was cut short when Cortez went to change for her last act. Student Center personnel said the performance was out of time and classes would continue. The crowd members groaned in disappointment as they left.

If you missed the performance or find it hard to imagine, see videos of Cortez performing "Pretty Girl Swag" and "Why Don't You Love Me?"

Amelia Cortez begins her performance.

A portion of the crowd offers an array of facial expressions.

A crowd member gives Cortez dollar bills mid-performance.

Amelia Cortez dances to Lady Gaga's "Telephone."

There are no current plans to add the fast-food favorite to the campus fare but Aramark says it is listening. Aramark wants to give us what we want, according to Jim Nabors, senior food service director. Aramark has been interviewing students, faculty and staff  and has set up chat rooms.

The process is called MarketMatch and Aramark conducts the in-depth survey at eight campuses each year.

Students have asked for a Taco Bell in the surveys and discussed it in chat rooms. Some have suggested that it would replace Java City in the Student Center. The coffee shop has had competition from Starbucks since the chain opened in Torreyson Library last year.

Nabor said there are no plans to replace Java City.

The MarketMatch report will be presented to the university administration in May. Aramark will discuss any changes to its campus operations at that time.

Most people noticed and gathered to watch as the 15 students marched and bounced through the lunchtime crowd at a hurried pace. They were completely expressionless, as if they were in a trance. Then, they began to chant something that nobody could understand.

Watching it all with the rest of us was Kevin Browne, associate professor of theatre, who organized the event. These were students from his Improvisational Theory class, he said. They were experimenting space, he said.

Kevin Browne

After their 10-minute jaunt through the lobby of the Student Center, the students gathered in a circle, put their hands together and shouted, "Global Affairs Committee." That's the group's name, apparently.

The group also performed an improvisation show last night in the Snow Fine Arts Center.

Motil will be performing in the Student Center courtyard from 1:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Motil’s performance is part of the variety of student entertainment that the student activities board brings to campus each semester.

Motil has been touring college campuses around the country for awhile and has become one of the most-booked college music acts in the nation. It has helped him sell about 10,000 records during the past four years without a record label or management team. He currently lives in Las Vegas.

Motil says on his Web site that his two musical influences are Paul Simon and David Gray. His voice and music are similar to smooth pop with just a splash of country.

Nick Motil

The event is free and is the last act sponsored by SAB this year. Check out a performance by Motil here.

• Student Xia Zhengwei, 21, reported that he lost his wallet in the Student Center. No further information was available.
• Student Desmend Alexander, 21, reported that his car was damaged while parked in the lot west of the HPER Center. Alexander said he parked the car for about 15 minutes and returned to find a dent in the rear bumper. Police estimated the damage at $500.

The success fair, called "I Just Want to be Successful," will include guest faculty and staff speakers who will discuss success in the areas of personal relationships, academics, health and work.

The i.d.e.a.l. Freshman Leadership Team raised money for the event last month at Zaxby's restaurant on Dave Ward Drive. For four hours on March 3, Zaxby's agreed to donate 10 percent of its sales to the program.

I.d.e.a.l. is a mentoring program designed to mold promising freshmen into campus leaders. Freshmen are chosen based on the principle of diversity in race, gender and background. They are taught advanced leadership skills, including ethics, communication, conflict resolution and networking.

The program was founded here about 10 years ago and is partially funded by the Student Government Association.

The fair will last until 6 p,m. It is free and everyone is invited to attend. Refreshments will be available and door prizes will be awarded.