09-02-2004, 03:01 PM
Heated debate erupted at the Student Government senate meeting Wednesday night over a resolution that didn't even make it to the floor.
The resolution, SBL (04)019, was proposed by Sens. Adam Piper, Richard Cunningham, and Patrick Walsh and would have allowed the song "To Hell With Georgia" to be distributed around campus so students could sing along with the USC band at the USC vs. Georgia game.
The rules committee decided not to put the resolution on the docket for discussion at the meeting because of questions concerning the funding for the plan. Walsh and his compatriots tried to introduce the resolution several times despite it not being on the docket, which met with strenuous dissent.
Walsh said he felt so strongly about the issue because Georgia is such a heated rivalry with USC.
"Sure they sell out the game, and sure there is school spirit," Walsh said. "But you cannot imagine the intensity and amount of spirit the song generates when it is sung, say, for instance, at a Georgia Tech vs. Georgia game."
Walsh also said that promoting school spirit and uniting behind the football team was the resolution's real purpose.
"We understood funding could have been a problem, and we wanted to discuss the resolution to fix that," Walsh said. One idea, he said, was to use some of SG's advertising space in The Gamecock to promote the idea.
Walsh said he felt the rules committee was "extreme" in deciding the resolution would not even come up for debate, and said he was upset the meeting ended before the issue, in his mind, was resolved.
"I am a senior here at USC, and I have never seen a senate meeting adjourned with a question still on the floor," he said.
SG Vice President Yvonne Miller, who Walsh engaged several times when trying to bring the resolution to debate, said she felt distributing the song was a bad idea.
"I don't feel Student Government needs to have its name attached to something like this. I have school spirit, I am a sports enthusiast, but this is a nationally televised game and I just did not think it was appropriate. This is the type of thing that can really backfire and reflect badly."
The USC vs. Georgia game will be televised on ESPN at 5:30 on Sept. 11 from Williams Brice Stadium.
The resolution, SBL (04)019, was proposed by Sens. Adam Piper, Richard Cunningham, and Patrick Walsh and would have allowed the song "To Hell With Georgia" to be distributed around campus so students could sing along with the USC band at the USC vs. Georgia game.
The rules committee decided not to put the resolution on the docket for discussion at the meeting because of questions concerning the funding for the plan. Walsh and his compatriots tried to introduce the resolution several times despite it not being on the docket, which met with strenuous dissent.
Walsh said he felt so strongly about the issue because Georgia is such a heated rivalry with USC.
"Sure they sell out the game, and sure there is school spirit," Walsh said. "But you cannot imagine the intensity and amount of spirit the song generates when it is sung, say, for instance, at a Georgia Tech vs. Georgia game."
Walsh also said that promoting school spirit and uniting behind the football team was the resolution's real purpose.
"We understood funding could have been a problem, and we wanted to discuss the resolution to fix that," Walsh said. One idea, he said, was to use some of SG's advertising space in The Gamecock to promote the idea.
Walsh said he felt the rules committee was "extreme" in deciding the resolution would not even come up for debate, and said he was upset the meeting ended before the issue, in his mind, was resolved.
"I am a senior here at USC, and I have never seen a senate meeting adjourned with a question still on the floor," he said.
SG Vice President Yvonne Miller, who Walsh engaged several times when trying to bring the resolution to debate, said she felt distributing the song was a bad idea.
"I don't feel Student Government needs to have its name attached to something like this. I have school spirit, I am a sports enthusiast, but this is a nationally televised game and I just did not think it was appropriate. This is the type of thing that can really backfire and reflect badly."
The USC vs. Georgia game will be televised on ESPN at 5:30 on Sept. 11 from Williams Brice Stadium.