Around the Table: 10/31/11

Student Body President Greg Larson laid out plans for what he sees as the future of strategic meetings at last Thursday’s session.

“I hope we can transition this into a forum where all students can come and feel comfortable to speak,” Larson said.

Student Senate currently has one strategic meeting per month where it discusses issues collected from students.

“This (new) setting will not necessarily be us talking about these issues… but more so a setting where students are comfortable being at,” Larson added.

Larson’s plan to make the meetings more inviting for students went along with Sen. Carly Hamilton’s suggestion to hold Senate meetings in a more public place on campus, such as Pomerantz stage.

“Let (students) know where (the meeting) is, let them know when it is…then we can really hear from students what we need to fix,” Hamilton said.

Larson also announced the upcoming formation of two Ad Hoc committees for the Quasi-Endowment Fund as well as for the 2012 presidential election. President David Maxwell’s fireside chat has also been moved to Nov. 16.

In senator reports, Sen. David Karaz announced further progress has been made on the creation of a J-Term. The term would start no earlier than Dec. 27 and end around Jan. 23, according to Karaz.

“We’re hoping (these dates) can be brought to table by November for Faculty Senate,” Karaz said. “Things seem to be going in the right direction.”

A number of campus organizations also received funding at last Thursday’s meeting. The Drake Dance Team was allocated $758 for choreography fees and registration associated with the Iowa State Dance/Drill Team Championships.

The Drake men’s club volleyball team also received $1,000 for registration costs to enter both the Midwest Plains Volleyball Conference and the Winona State volleyball tournament. Both allocations passed unanimously.

The Coalition of Black Students allocation, however, required more in-depth discussion by senators before passing the motion. CBS requested $2,872.04 for registration and transportation fees associated with sending 12 members to the National Black Student Union Conference.

Some senators questioned the need to send 12 members of CBS to the conference when the organization already is strong on campus.

“I feel if we are going to use student funds to send organizations to conferences, we should use it to send struggling organizations,” Sen. Adam Lutz said.

Other senators also questioned how much direct programming would be brought to Drake as a result of such a large number of students attending.

“I think it’s a deeper question rooted in whether or not we are investing in programming brought back to Drake or the leadership development of members,” Sen. Erin Hogan said.