Senate will spend $1,300 to cover higher ice rental costs for Blugold hockey teams despite debate over an athletic department deficit.

 
Senate passed a special allocation to the athletic department 23-6-1 Monday. The bill marks the most contentious vote this semester.

 
Much of the debate stemmed from an ongoing $90,000 athletic department budget deficit.

 
“I cringe at giving money to anyone who’s $90,000 in the hole,” Senator Stephen Kahlow said.

 
The Athletic Department requested $2,500 to cover higher ice costs brought on by higher heating costs at Hobbs Ice Center.

 
Senate’s Finance Commission voted not to grant the full request. Finance Commission Director Tyler Will said the commission recommended Senate grant the athletic department more than half of their request to “show support.”

 
“The $90,000 deficit has been there for years,” Will said. “Their fundraising has been steady over the last few years and increased last year after the hockey team won the national championship.”

 
The hockey team will need to fund raise to cover the rest of the ice increase.

 
In past years, Senate held large carryover cash reserves. But this year, those stores are running out after several years of surplus spending.

 
Senate oversees about $11,000 in carryover cash which is distributed to cover unexpected expenses. That balance has to last Senate through the end of spring semester.

Senator Cale Arhart said that although the athletic department and the university don’t communicate as much as they should, Senate should support successful
athletic programs.

 
“The athletic department and the university don’t have a good relationship,” Arhart said. “People come here for our athletics. If the hockey team wins a national championship they should have a banner up in Davies.”

In other Senate news

Album Spinners is the newest of UW-Eau Claire’s 280 campus clubs after Senate unanimously approved the club’s constitution Monday.

 
Evan Langer, the club’s founder, said he wanted to start a student organization devoted to music listening after playing full albums with friends this summer.

 
“Listening to music is a social event,” Langer said. “When you listen to a single album you hear songs you’re not going to hear on the radio.”

 
Langer plans to rent out a room on campus once a week, plug in a CD player and listen. When the album ends, he’ll open a group discussion on the music.

 
Philosophy, English and music professors will invite students to come to the club’s sessions and discuss the message behind the music. English professor David Jones, who moonlights as a musician, is the club’s faculty adviser.

Classic rock — the Beatles, Rolling Stones and anything between the 60s and 80s — perks Langer’s eardrums. But he’s also planning on showcasing modern music, too. He plans to showcase Macklemore’s new album at the club’s first meeting.

 
Langer said he wants the club to be a forum for discovering the message behind music.

 
“Rock and roll music has a deeply democratic spirit,” Langer said. “Love, peace and the ideas promoted by hippies are the spirit of community.”