"I assume everyone is done. Good, let's continue where we left off" Aiden said, "Where were we?"
"The attendees for the welcome party" Moira reminded Aiden where they left off as she got ready to type the minutes again.
"Right. In any case, that's my proposal for the additional attendees to the welcome party" Aiden added, although internally annoyed of the prospect of inviting the Gang of Eight to the party.
"What will be the program for the night?" Katrina asked.
"We could have an opening speech at the beginning of the party, have dinner, a few introductions and games" Angela proposed.
"That could work, let's keep it simple and to the point so it doesn't bore the International Students. Can you make program proposals for the party then? Aiden asked.
"Yes, I'll draft multiple options you could choose from, I'll share it with everyone else so they can have an input on the options as well. I will have those ready by tomorrow" Angela said as she jotted it down on her notepad.
"I have a suggestion regarding the program" Katrina announced, "Given that we're short on time for the preparations, I suggest we let Aiden choose the option for the program, it should speed things up"
"Does anyone have a problem with that suggestion?" Aiden asked.
"I think that would be the best option, if we offer our input, it could take us longer to decide on the program" Grace spoke up as she scanned around the room. Given the lack of time for an extended debate, everyone agreed on Katrina's suggestion to expedite the planning for the welcome party.
"Alright then, I'll choose the program for the party. I'll let anyone know as soon as I have decided" Aiden said as they concluded their current topic.
"The next topic is the budget allocation for the student organizations and clubs" Moira announced as they moved on to the third topic in their agenda.
"Kobe, Katrina, you guys are up" Aiden said, signaling the Treasurer and the Comptroller.
"Right, as I've mentioned earlier, the MJU administration has allocated 2.5 million to the Student Council this academic year. We haven't received any budget requests from the clubs and organizations yet, but the Student Council will receive 750 Thousand of the allocated budgets. The International Student Organization for its part will receive 250 thousand, and the rest will be divided amongst the organizations and clubs on campus" Kobe said as he read the report on his binder.
"When are we setting the deadline for the budget requests?" Aiden asked.
"My target deadline would be next Friday; it should give the organizations and clubs enough time to plan and assess their budgetary needs for this academic year" Katrina responded.
"Do we have a breakdown on the expected expenses for the Student Council yet?"
"As of right now, we don't have a general idea, that would depend on the type of activities we will hold for the 1st and 2nd semester"
"If we're looking at the current budget for the Student Council, we could break our budget to 250 thousand each for the 1st and 2nd Semester. That should leave us with another 250 thousand as reserve. Another option would be to allocate 300 thousand each for the 1st and 2nd semester, and it should leave us with 150 thousand for reserves" Kobe explained.
"What does everyone think?" Aiden asked.
"Well, since we now have the International Students on campus, I say we should go all out on our activities this academic year. I say we go for 300 thousand per semester" Moira proposed, Kobe and Grace agreeing on the proposal.
"I'm sorry, but I rather play it safe, I'd go with 250 thousand per semester" Katrina counter-proposed, Angela and Aaron agreeing with the comptroller.
"It seems like there's a tie" Moira said as the council was evenly split on the proposal for the Student Council budget for the academic year.
"What do you think Amy?" Aiden asked turning his head towards her.
"I think we should play it safe" Amy responded, siding with Katrina on the issue.
"Min?" Aiden asked, turning his head towards the International Student Representative.
"As an International Student myself, I agree with Moira's proposal" Min replied, siding with Moira.
"It looks like you have to break the tie on this impasse Aiden" Katrina said as everyone turned their attention to the Student Council President, "We'll accept whatever your decision may be"
Aiden leaned towards the conference table, his fingers steepled. Aiden was in deep thought, knowing that his decision would greatly affect the outcome of the activities that the Student Council would plan for the Academic Year. While Katrina does make sense about conserving their budget in case of emergencies, the International Students factor also plays well with Moira's proposal. The Student Council room was once again quiet, everyone waiting for Aiden's decision on the matter.
"We'll do it this way" Aiden finally broke the silence, seemingly deciding on the budget impasse.
"Kobe, where does the funding for the International Student Organization fall under" Aiden asked as Kobe referred to his binder.
"Discretionary Spending" Kobe responded, "Why, what's up?"
"We'll appropriate 50 thousand from the ISO's budget to the Student Council's budget. This should give the Student Council 800 thousand total. We'll split the budget to 300 thousand per semester and it should still leave us with 200 thousand for emergencies" Aiden proposed.
"If the whole purpose of Moira's proposal is to increase our activity spending for the International Students, then transferring a portion of International Student Organization funds into the Student Council's budget should be fine. It should still leave us with a sizeable amount of reserve funds in cases of emergencies as Katrina proposed. This should be a good compromise" Aiden added.
"That could work actually" Kobe responded to the proposal, "I would need approval from you and the administration for the re-appropriation of the 50 thousand"
"That shouldn't be a problem, I can approve that immediately. Although, I would have to bring this up to the Executive Council meeting on Thursday to get the administration's approval for the transfer"
"I'll work on the re-appropriation request" Katrina said, approving of Aiden's proposed compromise.
"Please do. Is there anything else we need to discuss in terms of budget appropriations?" Aiden asked.
"Until we get the budget proposals, there's nothing else to discuss. We could meet again when the deadline for the budget request expires, so we could further discuss the budget appropriations" Katrina responded as Kobe nodded his head in agreement.
"If there's nothing else, we'll move on to the 1st Semester activities" Aiden announced as Grace pulled up the previous year's activities on the projector screen.
"In total, the previous Student Council held six university-wide events for the 1st semester. These are the Battle of the Bands, Foundation Day Festival, MJU Olympics, Halloween Festival, F/S Prom, and the End of Semester Festival. For the 2nd Semester, nine university-wide events were held. These are the Welcome Back Festival, Valentine's Day Festival, the Greek Festival, Homecoming, Pride Festival, Recreation Week, Pep Rally, J/S Prom and the End of the Academic Year Bash" Grace said as she presented the previous Student Council's activities from the previous academic year.
"For now, we'll focus on what we'll do this semester, and then we can plan the activities for the next semester. Given our budget situation, we could expand and add to the activities that the previous Student Council did" Aiden said, "Let's recycle the activities that the Previous Student Council did last year, we'll take this opportunity to improve and further expand those. Let's also add another activity for this semester"
"I think that's a good idea, almost all of those activities were successful last year, and the student body seemed to really enjoy it" Moira said.
"We could tweak some of those activities to include our International Students, especially for the Battle of the Bands, MJU Olympics and the F/S Prom" Aaron proposed.
"Uhmm, can anyone give me a background on these events? Just so I can have a gist of what we're talking about" Min chimed in.
"Yeah, of course, we could give you an explanation" Katrina said, with Aiden nodding his head in approval.
"The Battle of the Bands is a competition amongst the bands in the different colleges on campus and was held early September last year. Foundation day is a whole-day event on the 23rd of September to celebrate the university's founding. The MJU Olympics are basically our Intramurals on campus, all the colleges compete on different sporting events, although we call it the "Olympics" we also hold other competitions around the campus, such as dance competitions, art competitions, poetry competitions, cooking competitions, among others, this is a week-long event, and is held during the 2nd week of October. The Halloween Festival is held on the last day of October, for that event everyone on campus can wear a costume, and students are able to do trick-or-treat in the different colleges and offices on campus, there was also a party held at the end of the day. The F/S prom, which is basically the Freshman-Sophomore prom was a new activity that the previous Student Council launched last year. It was basically designed for the Freshmen and Sophomores, compared to the J/S prom held on the 2nd semester, which are geared towards the Juniors and Seniors, this was held somewhere on the 2nd week of November. The End of the Semester bash is on the last day of the 1st Semester" Katrina elaborated as she explained the MJU events that were held last year.
"For the 2nd semester we have the Welcome Back Festival, which is a university-wide welcome back party for our students on campus, this is held on the first day of the 2nd semester. The Valentine's Day Festival is self-explanatory, however MJU does hold a competition wherein the different colleges would choose a couple, and those couple would compete in a university-wide competition. The winners are named as the following academic year's MJU Official Couple. The Greek Festival is a competition between the Fraternities and Sororities that we have on campus, they usually compete in the areas of sports, dance competition, and philanthropy. Homecoming is where our alumni come back to campus to visit, it's usually a free day, and there are booths set up around campus for foods and other activities. Homecoming is held annually on the 2nd Friday of March. The MJU Pride Festival is held on the last week of March to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community here at MJU, there are all sorts of activities for that week, like Drag Queen Competition, Ms. Gay MJU and Mr. Lesbian MJU, among other activities. The LGBTQ+ community plans this event in conjunction with the Student Council. Recreation Week is held on the 2nd week of April where student can participate in different recreational activities, like Humans vs. Zombies, Video Game Competitions, and such. The Pep Rally is held almost immediately after the Recreation week, and mostly geared towards the Athletes on campus. The J/S Prom is held on the 1st Friday of May, and the End of the Academic Year Bash is held on the last day of the academic year" Katrina explained, as Min nodded his head, indicating he understood Katrina's explanation of the events.
"That's basically the gist of it" Grace said, as Katrina finished her explanation.
"For this semester, let's hold an International Week for our International Students, and each day of the week we can have different activities that our International Students could host, which will be open for the university and the public. On Monday, we could have a band performance that would let our International Students perform a song from their home country; Tuesday an International Movie Night; Wednesday a pageant that showcases the International Students' national costumes; Thursday an International Showcase that would exhibit the students' home countries and universities; Friday an International Café, where the students would cook dishes from their respective countries, and Saturday could be an International Sports Day" Aiden proposed.
"Aw man, that sounds awesome!" Kobe excitedly proclaimed.
"That's actually pretty smart, that way we could give our International Students exposure to the university and public community" Grace added.
"I'm already getting excited" said Moira who was rubbing her hands together.
"That would be a blast!" Angela chimed in as everyone sounded excited about Aiden's idea for another event for the semester. Aaron and Katrina just smiled, as if they knew that Aiden was going to suggest something in that scale.
"For now, we'll recycle the activities and events that was done last year, and further improve them, keeping the International Students in mind when we do the improvements. This semester, our new event will be International Week. Does that work with everyone?" Aiden said as the Student Council members unanimously agreed.
"For now, we'll keep the 2nd semester activities as is, we can make modifications, improvements and additions once we get data and feedback from the activities and events we're going to organize this semester with the International Students" Aiden added.
"That's a good idea, we need to have a test-run for our activities with the International Students this year and apply what we learn from this semester to next semester's events" Grace said.
"With the massive budget expansion this academic year, we could definitely do it" Kobe added.
"Is everyone okay with the proposals for this semester's activities? If so, I'll bring this up to the Executive Council for approval before we could finalize the planning and organization" Aiden asked, as everyone nodded in agreement, before moving on to their next topic.
"The last one is the International Student outing for this semester" Moira announced.
"Min, what do you think? You should have an input on this since this will directly affect the International Students" Aiden asked.
"I think we should keep the cost cheap, but still make the trip enjoyable and memorable" Min responded as Katrina, Kobe, and Angela nodded in agreement.
"If we want to keep this cheap, we may have to focus our excursions within Luzon, and at least a maximum of 2 outings" Aiden said.
"Maybe we could do Tagaytay and Baguio?" Moira suggested, as the other Student Council members focused on her.
"Why Tagaytay and Baguio?" Aaron asked.
"For one, it's within Luzon, so it should keep the travel expenses to a minimum. Secondly, it would give the International Students an opportunity to see parts of northern and southern Luzon. Lastly, those places are popular destinations, and has picture perfect sceneries as well. " Moira explained her reasoning.
"That does make sense" Amy chimed in, having been quiet for a while, "Tagaytay and Baguio would be the optimal locations for an outing, especially to escape the craziness and humidity of Metro Manila. Plus, the International Students will have the opportunity to see attractions like the Taal Volcano and Mines View Park"
"You guys have a point" Grace conceded.
"If we really want to keep the travel expenses to the very minimum, we could put in a request to use the university buses to make this a road trip as well." Moira proposed, "Like what Amy said, Tagaytay and Baguio has great views, it would be the perfect places for the International Students to take photos"
"Where's Baguio and Tagaytay?" Min asked, horribly butchering the pronunciation. Angela quickly took her phone out and searched images for Tagaytay and Baguio on her phone and showed it to Min, who was sitting next to her.
"They do look nice; I think this could work!" Min said as he looked at the pictures on Angela's phone.
"If you think it's fine, then I want you to bring this up with the International Student Council and get their feedback. If they approve, we could get the proposal started" Aiden said.
"The Student Council is not going to approve it?" Min asked.
"No. The International Exchange Program instructed the Student Council to come up with a proposal for an outing for the International Students this semester, and depending on how this goes, they might ask us again to plan for another one next semester. Once we have the proposal, we'll submit it to Director Guerrero who would review it, and then submit the proposal to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for final approval" Aiden explained.
"I didn't realize it was a complicated process"
"I think since this is the first time we're holding something like this for International Students, the university wants to make sure that the outings would be a safe incursion. Any accidents or incidents will greatly damage the reputation of the university and could jeopardize our International Exchange Program, the university does take our students' safety seriously"
"If you put it that way, it makes a lot of sense" Min replied.
"Angela, I'll leave the itinerary proposal to you since it's your proposal. You can give me the draft by the end of the week" Aiden instructed Angela as the latter wrote it down on her note pad.
"Does anybody have anything to add? Min? Angela?" Aiden asked.
"I think this proposal is a good start, I'll bring it up with the International Student Council, and have them give me a feedback, I should have something by next week" Min responded.
"This should be okay for now; we'll worry about the rest of the details once the International Exchange Program and Vice Chancellor Gutierrez approves our proposal" Angela added.
"This ends our agendas for today's meeting, do we have anything that anyone wants to bring up?" Aiden announced.
"There is one thing" Grace said, "While we were discussing the Gang of Eight earlier, Katrina proposed we inform the International Exchange Program and the International Students about the Gang of Eight and the Outcast system"
"Was that not included in the International Students' orientation earlier?"
"No, and it was the first time I heard about the Gang of Eight and the Outcast system" Min responded.
Aiden sighed, "Moira, setup a meeting with Director Guerrero and the International Student Council as soon as possible"
"I'll send out an email to Director Guerrero tomorrow morning" Moira responded to Aiden, before she turned towards Min, "Min, can you coordinate with the International Student Council, see when they are available to have a meeting?"
"Okay, I'll ask them tomorrow" Min replied, writing it down on his folder as a reminder.
"Is there anything else, other than the Gang of Eight and Outcast System?" Aiden asked again.
"Okay. Before we officially end our meeting, there is a matter I'd like to discuss with everyone" Aiden said with a serious expression on his face.
"I plan on re-organizing and expanding the Student Council" Aiden announced to everyone's surprise.
"How do you plan on re-organizing and expanding the Student Council?" Grace asked, visibly surprised with Aiden's announcement.
"I intend to expand the Student Council positions to include a Secretary, ROTC Attaché, Events Coordinator, Student Ambassador Attaché, and University Intelligence Officer. I also would like to formalize the position of the International Student Representative as an official member of the Student Council" Aiden explained.
"That's a sweeping re-organization and expansion Aiden" Katrina commented.
"What does each proposed position entail?" Moira asked.
"The position of Secretary would take over writing the minutes, prepare the agendas for the meetings, coordinate communiques between the Student Council, student organizations and clubs, and the university. The ROTC Attaché will be the representative of the ROTC to the Student Council and will serve as the commander of the Student Council ROTC Battalion which will report directly to the Student Council President, the Events Coordinator will handle all matters related to activities and events to be organized and hosted by the Student Council, the Student Ambassador Attaché will be the representative of the Student Ambassador Association to the Student Council, and the University Intelligence Officer will head the Student Council's Intelligence gathering efforts within and outside the university. All of these positions would help distribute the workload equally and ensure that the Student Council operates effectively and efficiently on multiple areas and fronts relating to the Student Body and university" Aiden elaborated.
"Those positions would help ease the workload of the current Student Council members, and the position of the ROTC Attaché would help centralize our command and control authority on the ROTC for operations related to university activities" Grace conceded, "What about the Student Ambassador Attaché and the University Intelligence Officer? What purpose could they have for the Student Council?"
"I plan on proposing to the Executive Council about opening up student level relations with our partner universities and intend to post Student Ambassadors in our partner universities as representatives of our university. Our partner universities will in turn send their own Student Ambassadors to act as their representatives here at MJU. The purpose of the Student Ambassador Attaché is to handle all matters related to our relations with our partner universities on the student level, of course the creation of this position would depend whether the Executive Council approves my proposal or not. In the case of the University Intelligence Officer, their job is to collect intelligence around the university of possible threats to the student culture, and collect data and information about troublesome students, organizations or groups within MJU, in that way, we could respond to any troubles that may arise before it happens. The University Intelligence Officer will also be tasked on keeping an eye on the Gang of Eight" Aiden added.
"You plan on spying on the other members of the Gang of Eight!?" Kristina reacted with surprise.
"All of you are already aware, the Gang of Eight are influential individuals here at MJU, and each of them has control over groups and organizations that makes up a big part of the university Student Body. I believe that all of you are also aware that tensions between Jason, Hazelyn, RJ, Oscar and Heide are increasing, it would be at the best interest of the Student Body and the university if we keep a close eye on them and step in as soon as possible if the probability of an escalation presents itself. Imagine the chaos it would cause if the leaders of the largest groups at MJU starts a conflict with each other" Aiden said, as he justified the creation of the University Intelligence Officer.
"That would effectively fracture the Student Body and would pretty much be a civil war between our students" Amy deduced.
"Exactly. As Student Council President, I cannot allow that to happen, our mandate as the Student Council is to serve the best interest of the Student Body, defend our students from harm, and protect the image and reputation of the university" Aiden said.
"If you put it that way, that does sound like it would necessitate the position of the University Intelligence Officer on the Student Council" Moira conceded.
"What about the International Student Representative?" Min asked.
"Right, technically speaking, you are not officially a member of the Student Council, rather, a guest on our meetings. Officially creating that position would effectively give the International Student Representative privileges reserved only for the Student Council members. It would also give the Student Council stable oversight over the International Student Council and the International Students in general" Aiden replied.
"So that's how it is" Min murmured.
"You have my full support on this Aiden" Katrina announced.
"Same here" Aaron added, as everyone in the Student Council offered their support for Aiden's plan to expand and re-organize the student council.
"If that's everything, we'll end the meeting here" Aiden announced as he closed the folder in front of him and started packing his stuff.
It was already 20:50 when the meeting ended. The conclusion of the meeting was a sigh of relief for everyone in the Student Council, as it marked the end of their tumultuous first day back in school. It was especially a relief for Amy, Grace and Katrina after the scuffle they had to face that morning, in addition to the classes and other extracurricular activities that they are involved in. Out of everyone in the room, Aiden remained stoic, his personality returning to the cold, expressionless person that he was after taking off the mask of the Student Council President.
"That was a long meeting" Kobe yawned as he stretched his arms in the air.
"It really was, it did drag on longer than usual since we had to give Min a crash-course about Mount Juliet" Angela added, closing the folder in front of her and started writing down notes on her note pad.
"I'm sorry. The meeting dragged on because I asked too many questions" Min said as he offered his apologies to everyone.
"Don't worry about it, I did tell you and Amy to ask questions if you need to at the beginning of the meeting" Katrina responded.
"Besides, we were going to have to explain to you what we just explained earlier, since you'll be joining our meetings now as the International Student Representative" Aaron chimed in, giving Min some reassurance.
"Thank you" Min smiled, appreciative of the understanding the members of the Student Council were giving him.
"Also, I want to Thank you. Amy, Grace, and Katrina for this morning" Min added.
"Don't worry about it, we were just doing our job" Grace chimed in as she returned the laptop she was using earlier at the charging station.
"Yeah, you don't need to thank us. We're just glad you weren't mauled by our students on your first day here at Mount Juliet" Katrina added.
"We're just glad you made it to the Student Center earlier without any major problems" Amy continued.
As Min thanked the girls for assisting him that morning, Aiden went into his office, leaving his bag on top of the conference table. Entering his office, he immediately started up the computer on his desk, as he pulled out some folders out of the drawer to his right.
"Are you staying Aiden?" Katrina asked as she peeked inside his office from where she was standing.
"For a little bit, yes. I have some things to attend to. All of you could go" Aiden responded without looking at Katrina.
"If that's the case, I'm off. I'm exhausted" Kobe commented as he put his backpack on.
"Hold on a second Kobe, I'll go with you" Amy called out as she quickly grabbed her folder from the conference table.
As soon as Amy grabbed the folder, her and Kobe headed out, waving goodbye to everyone as they walked out the door. Moira and Angela were still busy writing down notes, while Grace started putting her stuff in her backpack, Aaron and Katrina grabbed their backpacks from under the conference table.
"Can you wait up for me?" Grace called out to Aaron and Katrina as she placed her stuff inside her backpack, trying to finish as fast as she can as to not keep Aaron and Katrina waiting.
"Yeah. Take your time though" Katrina replied, "You want to head out with us Min?"
"Uh, you guys probably should go ahead" Min responded, "I'll stay for a little bit"
"Are you sure? You should probably head on out too; you've had a long day as well" Grace commented as she put her backpack on.
"Yeah, I'll head out in a few minutes"
"Do you know how to get to the International House from here?" Aaron asked as Grace walked towards him and Katrina.
"I'm meeting my friends at the lobby of the Student Center, I should be fine" Min said as Grace, Katrina and Aaron headed out the door.
"We'll see you guys tomorrow!" Katrina said as she walked out of the Student Council room.
"What's wrong Min? You have something else to do?" Moira asked Min as she looked up, her hand stopped writing.
"I wanted to talk to Aiden" Min responded, causing Angela to stop what she was writing as she tilted her head up to look at Min.
"I wouldn't bother him if I were you" Angela said, putting her pen down.
"How come?"
"He'll probably yell at you, or just plain ignore you to be honest"
"I could try can I?"
"Be my guest, but don't say I didn't warn you" Angela said as Min took a deep breath before walking towards Aiden's office. As Min walked towards the office, Angela immediately stood up and walked towards Moira, who was on the other end of the conference table, taking her notepad and pen with her. Grabbing the free chair next to Moira, Angela sat down, placing her notepad and pen on the conference table in front of the chair she sat on.
"How do you think it would go?" Angela whispered.
"I don't know to be honest, it's hard to tell Aiden's mood as it is" Moira whispered back.
"I guess we'll find out" Angela responded, as the two girls watched.
The moment Min took a step inside Aiden's office, he was immediately greeted by a cold "Get out" from Aiden who was working on the desktop computer, not even looking up to see who it was.
"Can I just say something?" Min said, looking at Aiden who was busy working, the sound of the keyboard clacking filled Aiden's office. Aiden didn't respond, his eyes were locked on the two computer screens in front of him.
"Aiden" Min called out. Forcing Aiden to stop whatever he was doing a he slid his chair to his right where he can visibly see Min.
"I told you to get out" Aiden responded; his voice as cold as ever.
"Can you at least let me speak?" Min asked as Aiden got up from his chair and walked towards the other boy, who was standing by the door.
As Aiden got closer to Min, he raised his left arm and grabbed the taller boy by the chin, his grip a little tighter than when he did the same thing this morning.
"Lesson Four: When I tell you something, you do it right away. Especially when I'm working" Aiden said as his grip got tighter.
"Lesson Five: Knock first before entering someone's office" Aiden continued as he held on to Min's chin. The other boy just stood there, listening to what Aiden had to say. No resistance or attempt to resist Aiden's grip on him.
"FYI One: You annoy the hell out of me" Aiden added as he removed his grip from the taller boy's chin.
"FYI Two: Just because I helped you out this morning doesn't mean we're friends. I did it out of necessity and my duty as Student Council President. Don't mistake it for something else" Aiden concluded, turning his back from the other boy before walking towards his desk to continue what he was doing before being interrupted. As Aiden walked back to his desk, Min turned his back towards Aiden who was pulling his chair towards him to take a seat.
"I just wanted to thank you for your help earlier, and for stitching and washing my polo. And I'm sorry for disturbing you and teasing you earlier. That's all that I have to say" Min said as he walked out of Aiden's office, grabbing his stuff on the way out of the Student Council Office.
Aiden just stood behind his desk, his expression and eyes softened after hearing what Min had to say to him. He lowered his head, focusing his gaze on his table, as he bumped his fist on his desk.