New and veteran senators went through a New Senate Orientation session during Wednesday's Student Government Association meeting.
The Ball State University senators learned how the administration and governance systems work, the differences between committees and caucuses and how to write legislation. They also learned how to recruit, what resources to use and how to use them.
President Pro-Tempore Jimmy Faroh said writing legislation was one of the most fundamental and important aspects of SGA.
"[It's] what we're really all about," he said. "To get things done we have to get it down on paper and have to get it to the university."
To do this, he said it was important for senators to research the topics they felt affected their constituents and ask for help from him, the executive slate, committee or caucus chairpersons, their officer binder or the SGA Web site.
"A lot of administrators and faculty will not take the time to meet with you if you don't know what you're talking about," Faroh said.
Secretary Ebony Strong said she wanted to start a monthly SGA social where senators and their friends could get to know one another better outside of their weekly meetings. She said by bringing friends to the social they could get to know more about SGA.
Senators also voted to have their new shirts say "Your BSU. Your SGA." The shirts will be black, red and white.
Below is a breakdown of some of the things the caucuses and committees discussed:
Caucus Reports
On Campus: Chairwoman Beth Cahill said they were trying to get more trash cans on campus.
Off Campus: Chairman Henry Mortensen said he would meet with Nancy Wray next week regarding the shuttle buses going to the fraternity houses.
Organizational: Chairman Marco Pretell-Vazquez said the Drag Show would be on Oct. 11. Theta Chi fraternity's Water Daze event would be Friday on LaFollette Field, he said.
At Large: Chairwoman Michelle Voss said she would meet today with Kevin Kenyon about bushes, bike baths, chalk and crosswalk issues.
Committee Reports:
Academic Affairs: Chairwoman Mallory Winkler said the committee continued looking into double-sided printing and focusing on who to talk to about getting midterm grades online.
Community/Environmental Affairs: Secretary Marco Pretell-Vazquez said the committee also talked about double-sided printing and he would E-mail contacts within University Computing Services and Housing and Residence Life about getting printers that can print double-sided. He said they also talked about getting more parking spaces on campus.
Diversity and Multicultural Affairs: Chairwoman Brandi Terry said the committee learned they could not put together a multicultural film festival so they were working on getting a food and music festival in Irving Gym in November. If they cannot do that, she said they would look into having it during a Late Nite event.
Governmental Affairs and Student Awareness: Chairman Timothy Dykiel said SGA would meet at 3:15 p.m. at the Atrium for next week's meeting. He said the members will be writing letters to the advertisers on juicycampus.com saying they would not buy their products because the Web site bashes others and ruins people's lives and reputations. He said the committee members suggested making a Web site where people could put positive things about others online.
Student Safety: Chairwoman Michelle Voss said more lights were malfunctioning around Worthen Arena so they would look into getting those fixed. Committee members also will talk with Charlie's Charter to see how its ridership was doing and if it would be willing to have SGA advertise with it, she said. The committee also would look into why the fire hydrants have been painted a darker color.
Student Services: Chairwoman Nicole Akey said they would look into getting meter times increased because they are only 45 minutes and classes are at least 50 minutes.
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