In the last student senate meeting of the semester, Student Governing Association heard from a representative from Housing and Dining Services and approved legislation forming a new Special Committee on Membership.
Derek Jackson, director of Housing and Dining Services and assistant vice president of student life, briefly discussed the mold situation in Ford Hall for the second time this term.
Housing and Dining Services conducted air sampling over Fall Break of about 100 rooms, some hallways as well as the air outside of the building. From this sampling, Jackson said, all but four rooms came in with samples lower than what was found in the air outside.
Since Kansas State is in the Midwest, there is always mold in the air, but in the absence of open moisture, it does not grow, Jackson said in a previous student senate meeting.
Upon further inspection, two of those rooms that came in with samples above what was found in the air outside were found to have molding organic matter in them, one with a molding pumpkin and another with a dead plant that was also molding.
The official report made by the state of Kansas will show that K-State and Ford Hall are in compliance with health standards and do not have a mold problem, Jackson said.
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Jackson said this experience has been a learning experience for Housing and Dining Services and that in the future, they hope to do a better job of examining all spaces in facilities, including the area above the ceiling tiles in the dorm rooms.
Additionally, student senate approved the creation of another Special Committee on Membership for this term. This decision was made at the recommendation of the previous Special Committee and at the discretion of the current speaker of the student senate.
The Special Committee will be chaired by Lily Colburn, freshman in political science and SGA intern, and will be made up of 13 voting members that are student senators and at-large students. There will also be three ex-officio, non-voting members who are Nathan Bothwell, sophomore in political science and intern coordinator, Sadie Polson, junior in marketing and intern coordinator, and Joshua Arnoldy, speaker pro tempore of the student senate and senior in applied music.
As prescribed by the legislation, the Special Committee will work on “ongoing, systemic issues dealing with disproportionate Student Government 15 membership.”
This committee will look at solving problems in the new intern program’s structure if any problems arise to help it “effectively [meet] its intended goals.” Specifically, the Special Committee might look at the application process and the cap on the amount of interns that can continue into Phase Two, Colburn said.
The Special Committee will meet for the first time officially on Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. in the Center for Student Involvement.
Student senate will reconvene on Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. in the Wildcat Chambers.
