SGA Update: SGA to contribute $47,000 for OINK

The SGA voted to contribute $47,000 to fund an expanded Outdoor Introduction for New Kids (OINK) program for the fall of 2010 at its Feb. 28 meeting.

After the administration withdrew financial support for the reinstatement of MiddView, the outdoor orientation program supported by the Middlebury Mountain Club (MMC) and the Student Government Organization Association (SGA), the SGA agreed to fund MiddView for three years, beginning in 2011. The structure of outdoor orientation for the fall of 2010, however, was undecided until the SGA’s meeting.

At the meeting, the MMC requested financial support from the SGA to fund one of three possible options for next fall’s outdoor orientation programs. All three options represented a modified version of OINK, which will be larger than the previous OINK program but still smaller than Middlebury Outdoor Orientation and MiddView programs were. The two most attractive options to the SGA were the first option, which would accept 330 participants and require 80 orientation leaders and an SGA contribution of $47,000, and the second, which would require 60 orientation leaders but would only be able to accept 240 first-year participants, at a cost of $29,850 to the SGA.

Option one was the most expensive option presented, but the SGA felt strongly that OINK 2010 should strive to be as inclusive as possible. SGA member David Peduto ’11 recalled his experience as a first-year, when he was turned away from the outdoor orientation programs, and the MMC presenters emphatically apologized for the current impossibility of funding a completely inclusive orientation program. Torn between financing option one, the most ambitious option, and option two, the option deemed most feasible by the MMC because fewer orientation leaders would be needed, the SGA voted in support of a compromise between the two programs.

By deciding on “Option 1.5”, as it was dubbed by Vincent Recca ’12, the SGA committed itself to a $47,000 contribution to OINK 2010. The MMC will use the funds to strive for option one, but if option one is later determined to be infeasible, the MMC will revert to option two and return unused funds to the SGA. This pragmatic yet optimistic compromise reflects the value both the SGA and the MMC place on inclusivity in the orientation programs.

Although Option 1.5 will not replace MiddView, it will allow a large number of the class of 2014 to experience the outdoor orientation. The goal of OINK 2010 is to afford the Class of 2014 as many orientation opportunities as possible. Although recruiting 80 orientation leaders may seem like a daunting task, with the enthusiasm of the College community, option 1.5 is highly feasible.

Although OINK 2010 was the primary focus of the meeting, the SGA also discussed how to spend the $11,000 collected from parking fees, which is now available for transportation expenses. The SGA decided to examine the possibility of adding a third Zipcar for students’ use, pricing break bus tickets so that the cost of the bus will be offset only if the bus sells out, adding a one-van service from the Rutland train station for all major breaks, and adding a student-run shuttle to Burlington airport. The SGA also voted to keep the activities fee for next year at its current level, $380.