Story by Taylor Soule
Student Senate approved Drake Rugby Club as a campus organization and allocated one-time funding to the Drake Dance Team and Drake Outdoor Leadership Club on Thursday.
Sen. Alex Shaner said Drake Rugby Club plans to join a conference immediately and compete in tournaments.
For the fifth-straight year, Senate allocated $466 to the Drake Dance Team to compete in the Iowa State Dance Competition. The funds cover registration and choreographer costs.
Senate allocated $641.50 to Drake Outdoor Leadership Club to cover transportation and rental costs for a canoeing trip.
In other business, Student Body President David Karaz asked for increased accountability and communication as Senate strives to fulfill its 50 Strategic Goals for 2013-14.
“There’s going to have to be a higher accountability of each senator relaying information,” Karaz said.
In reports, Vice President of Student Activities Natalie Larson reminded Senate about Homecoming, which opened with Window Painting on Sunday.
The Homecoming game against Jacksonville is at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Drake Stadium.
Sen. Josh Schoenblatt said he is working on a two-day waiver for the Dog Days of Finals event so students would not have to sign a new waiver each day to play with the dogs.
Sen. Josh Duden said Drake athletics requested Senate’s support in its plans to renovate the intramurals fields.
In other business, four first-year senator candidates presented their goals if elected.
First-year Ryan Skajewski said he hopes to build a campus bond.
“I want to promote a sense of community,” Skajewski said. “One of the most important things we can have in a college is community. We should all be here to support each other.”
Candidate Zachary Blevins said he plans to resolve first-year students’ problems expediently.
“We want to be able to understand any problems they have and act on those problems to make sure those are taken care of,” Blevins said.
Candidate Nathan Jacobson said he plans to create a platform for informing first-year students about campus events.
“My number one priority would just be to provide a place where I can listen to people and be responsive to their concerns,” Jacobson said.
Candidate Jared Freemon completed the presentations with his plans to connect first-year and upper class students in a small-group setting.
“If it were upperclassmen approaching first-years not on a one-on-one basis but in a group, that could be very beneficial,” Freemon said.
