STORY BY BETH LEVALLEY
Student Senate divided $20,512.50 for 12 different student organizations at their last meeting.
The Senate allocated $6,420 to help facilities put in six outdoor recycling bins on campus.
Sen. Zachary Blevins and Sen. Kaitlin Lacek have been working on this project since late September.
Drake facilities are currently trying to incorporate more indoor recycling and do not have the funds to implement outdoor recycling bins as well.
Sen. Lacek has been working with the Drake Environmental Action League (DEAL) to put on future events that will educate students on how to use the bins and what to recycle.
The Senate hesitated to allocate the large amount of money, especially since it will not directly affect student life.
“They (the Senators) worked hard as well as DEAL,” Sen. Krysta Thomason said. “Going forward, we’ll have to be more wary to provide for student life. We can provide better and more responsibly fund.”
Sen. Olivia O’Hea believes that the students had done their research in order to implement this program.
“We (the Student Senate) shouldn’t be a first stop, but we can be a last stop,” Sen. O’Hea said.
Nine students from Drake University will be attending the State University of New York Model European Union conference in New York City from March 26-28. Students have been attending this conference for over 10 years, and the conference provides global citizenship knowledge that the students can bring back to Drake.
Three students are not receiving academic credit for their attendance, and will receive $480 to cover registration costs.
Drake’s Curling Club will receive $580 for a new practice location after their old practice arena raised their rental fee. The club is open to all students and hopes to participate in more tournaments in the future.
The Chinese Students and Scholars Association held a Chinese Night on March 6 and will receive reimbursement funds for the money spent on the event.
After confusion between reimbursement funds and allocating money for this specific event, the organization will receive $625.50 for the rest of the semester. They are also planning to organize two more events for later in the semester.
Enactus, a group that focuses on creating projects that develop the community, will travel to St. Louis, Missouri from April 13-16 to participate in a national competition. The group received $2,690 for transportation and lodging costs associated with the competition.
Eighteen students representing Drake will have the opportunity to win top prizes at the competition and have a good chance of getting first place. In 2013, the group received first at the regional competition and third at the national level.
“We present ‘Shark Tank’-like projects and present them to judges,” Abdul Mateen Hashim, Enactus’s vice president of communication, said. “Our two main projects are Project Bulldog and Opportunity on Deck.”
Opportunity on Deck is now a citywide program that allows students who live in a low-income neighborhood to play sports and was recognized by the Des Moines Register multiple times this summer.
Hashim hopes the publicity of the program will contribute to their chances of winning.
From March 27-30, three students will go to the USSA Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C.
Over 200 schools are represented throughout the country, but this will be the first time students represent Drake at the conference.
“Iowa State has gone, (University of) Iowa has gone, even DMACC has been there,” Patrick Stall said. “It would be a shame for Drake to miss out on this opportunity again.”
The students will receive $2,481 to cover registration, transportation and lodging costs that will allow them to learn about organization and leadership skills, career opportunities and legislative issues at the conference.
The Middle Eastern Peace and Prosperity Alliance will put on a presentation led by Eran Efrati and Maya Wind, two Middle Eastern students.
After debate about safety on campus and the protests that could arise, the Senate allocated $700 to cover transportation costs of the two speakers.
“In situations like that, you tend to just roll with the punches,” Rory Stimpson, financial chair of the organization said. “It will be a professional event, so there’s no real opportunity to give protesters the ability to protest.”
The organization is asking other college campuses if they would like to hold a similar event using the two speakers, which would lower the price of transportation.
The Senate also suggested collaborating with the Muslim Student Association on campus to recruit more people to attend the event.
Two Drake students, Parker Stinski and Mikhala Stutzman, will be attending the Law and Society Association Conference in Seattle, Washington from May 28-31. They were selected by an academic adviser to attend and present at the conference.
Covering transportation costs, the Senate allocated $691 to the students. They are receiving funds from an outside source for lodging and registration.
The Drake Dance Team will go to the Mid-American Dance Competition in Kansas City, Missouri from March 28-29.
While the team usually only participates in one competition each year, they wanted to compete at a national level and challenge themselves with new competition.
The Senate also allocated $2,700 to the Rainbow Union to hold their second annual “The Other Prom” on Drake’s campus.
Last year, 14 different schools attended the event and people recognized Drake’s effort to support the LGBQT community.
“This event connects to Des Moines in crazy ways,” Wit Hegarty, president of the Rainbow Union said.
The Senate had positive feedback for the event.
“I just really, really love this event,” Treasurer Kevin Maisto said.
