Archive for the ‘Student Government’ Category
Students say no to technology and recycling fee
Last Updated on Friday, 23 April 2010 05:00 Written by Todd Fuller Friday, 23 April 2010 05:00
It’s hard to tell what effect the Vote No campaign had on the Technology and Recycling fee, but it was evident by the results that the students didn’t want it.
The final tally for the vote was 299 to 309 for a total of 608 votes cast. On the surface, this looks like the fee was a close vote; however, according to Josh Rieken, SGA elections commissioner, a two-thirds majority was necessary for the fee to pass.
“Basically, we would have needed two yes votes for every no vote, so it really wasn’t close to passing,” Rieken said.
Graphic | Sara Baum
Too many things were wrong with the Technology and Recycling fee, according to Dillon Harp, president-elect of the SGA, and that’s why he decided to create a Facebook event page condemning it.
The page was up for about three or four days according to Harp, with the objective of alerting students to issues he and a few other student leaders saw as necessary information.
Harp’s involvement was limited to the Facebook page as he said he had little to do with any of the posters that were hanging on bulletin boards and walls all over campus. “I was made aware of it,” Harp said. “We (the person who made the posters) collaborated a little bit about it but I didn’t have the final say in it.”
Initially, Harp said that he was in favor of the fee, but that was before some of the changes and the removal of clauses protecting the students. The biggest clause removed protected the students from being hit with increases twice. The clause stipulated that if tuition is raised the fee would cease to exist and with its removal, so went Harp’s support.
After much thought and consideration Harp came to the conclusion that it was not in the best interest of the students to tax themselves for things, he feels, the university should be providing through tuition.
“Why should we be taxing ourselves for technology inside the classroom when that’s what tuition should be paying for,” Harp said.
Student forums informing students about issues and providing them with information about the fee were missing, according to Harp, but Rieken said that they decided not to do them for this fee.
“Some people said that we should have held forums, but the thing with those is usually people don’t go to them, so I don’t know how much of a difference it would have made,” Rieken said.
Harp thought otherwise. “Even if they [forums] are poorly attended, you have to at least provide that opportunity for the students,” Harp said. “Saying people aren’t coming isn’t reason to just not get out and educate them about it.”
Jerrod Huber, a senior majoring in English, didn’t vote and said that he basically depended on others not to pass it.
“If I was trying to get people to vote, I would get out and talk to them, get in the crowds where people are talking,” Huber said.
Harp feels strongly that Missouri Western State University should be addressing issues with technology to provide the best education possible. “If it’s [technology] really that bad we can justify it and take care of it the right way[tuition], instead of going through on these fees and taxing our students with all these separate individual fees, that we fee them to death.”
Harp was also worried this would have set a precedent for the students to address all issues on their own such as implementing a fee to replace desks in the classroom and other such issues.
Harp thinks that the university may have to rethink how they allocate money and said one of the biggest expenses is student labor. “I’m not saying I want to get rid of student labor or anything like that, but inside the computer labs—one of the biggest expenses they have is they spend $108,000 each year on student labor inside the computer lab,” Harp said. Harp feels that some if not all of that money could be going to provide for technology in the classrooms.
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Students raise concerns about campus smoking
Last Updated on Thursday, 15 October 2009 02:12 Written by Dave Hon Thursday, 15 October 2009 02:12
Students traveling to class on a rainy day may have noticed the congregation of smokers in between Murphy and Eder halls and have either choked to death or joined in under the rain free canopy. Since the majority of Missouri Western students are non-smokers, the Student Government Association is mediating to find a solution to this problem.
Joshua Todd, Student Government president feels that a smoking ban is out of the question for the campus mainly because of the residential halls.
“This is where people live. To just say, ‘you’re done’ to smokers on campus is going to cause more problems,” Todd said. “It’s a habit for these people; they’re addicted.”
Judy Grimes, dean of student affairs, holds strong that the issue of what to do about the conflict between smokers and anti-smokers should be dealt with.
“I think it was a great idea for the students to have the discussion and look at the pros and cons because it’s certainly not simple,” Grimes said. “But we know there are some major health issues related to smoking. We would like to have a campus of healthy students, faculty and staff.”
Todd and several SGA senators that attended a focus group last Wednesday, Oct. 5 discussed several ways to make both parties happy in this situation, such as banning smoking 15 feet in front of building doors. Enforcing this ban would be a problem for the university.
“You can’t enforce anything if it doesn’t exist,” Todd said.
The SGA has no authority to make campus policy, but by passing legislation, they can influence administrators to listen. Even if the 15 feet ban passes and becomes policy, SGA senators are worried that campus security would be too busy to enforce such a policy.
Jerrod Huber, a non-traditional student who serves as an SGA senator, led a group of non-traditionals who picked up an excess of over 1,000 cigarette butts outside of Murphy and Eder.
“It’s a problem,” Huber said. “I shouldn’t have to walk through noxious clouds of smoke to get to class at Murphy or Eder.”
Huber suggests that the SGA build roofing over the patios that the university has for smokers. Since the patios are set off on the side of the building, Huber also suggests that the SGA invests in signs to make the position of the smoking areas more clear.
Todd believes that the administrators will listen due to President Robert Vartibedian’s push for campus beautification and the amount of clout that this discussion has around campus.
“There is already enough concern and publicity about the anti-smoking group,” Todd said. “This group is taking initiative and I’m proud of them for doing that.”
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Student governor candidates named
Last Updated on Wednesday, 13 February 2008 04:02 Written by Heather Fields Wednesday, 13 February 2008 04:02
 Student governor Harold Calloway selected the three potential successors as his two year term came to a close. Governor Matt Blunt is responsible for making the official appointment after a lengthy selection process. Calloway hopes to have a new student governor by the next Board of Governor’s meeting Feb. 28.
 Calloway said that he looked for applicants who were especially focused on students and were engaged with issues on campus. “They also need to have writing capabilities and think on their feet pretty well; I looked for people who stood out in high school,” Calloway said. The chief objective is to make sure the seven citizen board members are aware of student issues and attend all the board meetings. Student Governor is a public position. The governor is an advocate in the community, attends community service events and lots of dinners. “Being well rounded is key,” Calloway said. Read more: Student governor candidates named
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Residence Council aims to increase involvement
Last Updated on Wednesday, 13 February 2008 03:41 Written by Online Editor Wednesday, 13 February 2008 03:41
The Residence Council is gearing up with fresh ideas to implement new programs and activities for Western residents. There are many plans to get more people involved and RC has a new president to put them into action.
Kayla Wymore wanted to be president of RC because she felt she had the quality and leadership skills to fill the position. During her first semester as a member of RC, Wymore was the Programmer and National Communications Chair. These positions provided her with the tools and experience in organizational operations she needed to eventually become president. She has an enthusiastic attitude about her new position and is hard at work planning to make big things happen for the residents as well as the council itself. Read more: Residence Council aims to increase involvement
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