Last night’s Student Governing Association meeting was filled with discussions on the K-State Student Union’s financial future, the recent SGA general elections, commendations to various students and organizations and the introduction of new legislation.
Ryan Patterson, junior in management, introduced three new bills regarding funding for the Union. The bills included increasing funds for repairs, which are currently backlogged at $2.5 million, a food subsidies increase that will come with the new services provided by Sodexo Catering and an increase to the general Union budget.
“The Union has been running in the red,” Patterson said. “These funds will be granted to the Union so they can start fresh.”
Patterson said the Union is currently looking at ways to increase its revenues. The funds paid to the Union by SGA will come from student privilege fees.
Student body vice president Grant Hill, senior in accounting, congratulated the winners of the SGA general election, which concluded Wednesday. With the discussion of the recent SGA elections came a reminder of the upcoming city of Manhattan elections.
Emilee Taylor, speaker of the senate and senior in sociology, stressed the importance of registering to vote in the upcoming city elections.
“It’s an important election for students,” Taylor said. “There are a lot of issues that affect students.”
When the talk turned to bills, Kyle Nuss, senior in architectural engineering, brought up the campus-wide smoking ban discussed last week. Students who voted in the SGA general election also filled out a short survey about whether K-State’s smoking policy should change. Nuss said the survey engendered an overwhelmingly positive response.
“[The Student Affairs Committee] is now working to get a plan together for next term,” Nuss said.
Bills introduced last week were voted on and all passed. These included allocations for travel to a 4H conference, the holding of an International Week on campus and a Wizard Rock event promoting literacy.
Senators also heard new bills introduced, including allocations for Disabilities Awareness Week, for Kappa Kappa Psi to host conductors to instruct band members for a special concert and for the Muslim Student Association to hold an Islamic forum.
A bill was moved through special orders last night as well, meaning it was introduced and voted on in the same night. The bill was a request for the College Council Allocations Committee to receive more funding because its account currently has less than $1,000 for the rest of the year, but the committee has received over $10,000 in requests. The bill passed.
Before the close of the meeting, SGA also recognized various students and campus groups. Hannah Miller, senior in agricultural economics, congratulated the College of Agriculture competition teams for their various wins at competitions across the country. Cody Kennedy, junior in education, commended Brandon Haddock, graduate student in geography, for his work as coordinator of the LGBT Resource Center, which is the first full-time center for LGBT students in the state of Kansas.
The Student Government Association will meet again next Thursday, March 14, in the Big 12 Room in the Union at 7 p.m.
