Sousaphone
There is no greater torture in the world than having to sit through a SAC meeting.
Student Activities Council (or SAC, if you like to talk dirty) exists to apportion funds amongst all of the student activities at Penn. How much money each group gets depends on the SAC Constitution outlines and the judgment of SAC-Exec, the 9-member student board.
Every month, I am forced to sit in on the SAC General Body Meeting. Upon entry, one representative from each group on campus is given a magical pink sheet with their group’s name on it. His or her job is to hold the sheet up when the general body is asked to vote on whatever issue is at hand. Hundreds of students fill in the seats of Cohen Hall or the Chem building, and for many, sleep ensues.
But for those who manage to stay awake and away from their calculus homework, a SAC meeting comes to order. One by one, SAC-Exec goes through the list of groups that asked them for money and tells us how much money it decided not to give them.
For groups that don’t get the amount of money they asked for (read: all of them), they appeal the decision, and the crowd groans as we are forced to listen to why their group needs SEPTA tokens to travel to poor middle schools or why a bear costume is integral to the mission of the Punch Bowl.
In these often two-hour-long meetings, I have seen the general body vote for the band to receive a new sousaphone, while I leant an ear to the whispers of those who didn’t know what a sousaphone was — much less how much one costs.
I’ve seen one group denied $300 to purchase their own printer, but instead given $200 in order to make copies for a year.
So, come one, come all. When there’s not an empty seat in Van Pelt and you have absolutely nothing better to do, take one for the team and become your group’s SAC representative.
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