Now that students have settled into their schedules, the Ball State University Student Government Association had its first meeting of the school year yesterday.As is common with its meetings, the senators took the time to gather in their caucuses and committees. While some either discussed what their roles were or elected students to whip or secretary positions, others informed senators of what they would be working on in the upcoming weeks.Below is a breakdown of what caucuses and committees discussed:
Caucuses:Organizational: Chairman Marco-Pretell Vazquez said he wanted senators to remind their constituents sorority recruitment was this week and there was a Latino Student Union meeting in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center, Room 308A today.
Committees:Community/Environmental Affairs: Chairwoman Leah Ruble said the committee would continue its work from last year on getting bat houses onto campus. She also said the committee would have a campus clean-up day once a semester this year, and it wanted to have an event for Earth Day.
Governmental Affairs and Student Awareness: Chairman Tim Dykiel said the committee discussed having tables outside of the Art and Journalism Building so students would be more aware of SGA.
Student Safety: Chairwoman Michelle Voss said the committee would look into an issue of some men attempting to sell magazines to women in the residence halls.
At the end of the meeting, each member of the Campus Alliance executive slate, gave their own reports.
Secretary Ebony Strong said Campus Alliance's platform item of sponsoring pre-game rallies for major home football games, would begin at Friday's football game when Ball State plays Navy. She said SGA would pass out T-shirts beginning at 5:30 p.m. at Scheumann Stadium. She also said Oct. 25 there would be a bigger pre-game rally with food and games.
Treasurer Moses Jones said a multicultural section was added to the budget instead of previous years when the Multicultural Center and organizations had to ask for money that was allotted to other sections.Vice President Carrie Cozad said this year each senator would have a chance to design the SGA T-shirts and would vote on the design in the next few weeks.
President Frank Hood said the Residence Hall Association and SGA would be working together to recruit students and encourage them to get involved.
With the presidential elections kicking into full gear now that Democratic candidate Barack Obama and Republican candidate John McCain have announced their running mates, it is no surprise SGA addressed voting.
During the meeting, Mitch Isaacs, associate director of the Office of Student Life, said he and the office would train students on how to start a voter registration drive."I have no legal authority to tell you, you can't [do a drive a certain way], but I can tell how to do it right and be a resource," he said. "[It's important] students know what the options are, and know the consequences of those options."
Isaacs said if students choose to do a drive Student Life would collect the registrations, check them for accuracy and take them to the Delaware County office."I really hope you do a voter registration drive because they're really cool and a good idea," he said.
Upcoming eventPre-game rally vs. NavyWho: SGAWhen: FridayTime: 5:30 p.m.What: Free T-shirts
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