Organizational issues and possible events were the topics of discussion at the first Campus Activities Board officers meeting Sept. 21.

Candice Dickinson, CAB president, said she wanted to make sure the meetings ran smoothly from week to week.

Therefore, she began the meeting with a quick overview of the roles each officer should play in CAB.

Then, she began discussing possible events and activities for the semester; however, she wanted to wait until the general meeting to get student perspectives.

“We don’t want to go into the meetings empty handed, yet we don’t want to go into them with our minds made up either,” said Terry Levy, treasurer.

Levy said it was important to make sure the students at the general meetings have a say in the activities.

Dickinson agreed and said she wants to use the general meetings as brainstorming forums and for finalizing plans between officer meetings.

The group’s main priority for events became community and campus service.

One idea was raking yards.

“Stuff like that is really fun and it helps with our community relations,” said Derek White, CAB secretary.

White said the work would benefit both students and the school by getting Missouri Southern’s name out to the area.

Then, they discussed incentives for the projects.

“It sucks that you have to have an incentive to help others,” White said.

However, the group agreed that students do need refreshments and small awards as means of showing support.

Carolyn White, CAB public relations representative, said she would like to see the campus as a whole reach out to the community, but CAB should also be careful of time considerations.

“It’s fine as long as we don’t overload ourselves,” she said.

The community service projects would include one small project during the semester and toward the end of the semester, the organization would start a Christmas-themed fund-raiser or service project.

“A lot of college towns have a lot of community involvement,” said Tori Maloukis, director of student activities.

“It has to start with you guys and then the rest will follow after. It builds a good relationship.”

Maloukis said she would like to see the organization focus on the community, but it must also be mindful of the campus.

“It’s going to be the type of thing that pulls people together,” Dickinson said.

The meeting then turned to student participation.

CAB officers discussed the need for bringing students together at campus-related events.

“There’s not a whole lot of tradition here,” Maloukis said.

“We need to start a tradition – something that the students look forward to every year.”

She suggested working on sports events and home games to make them more appealing to the students.

Members suggested such things as T-shirt slingshots and spirit couches.

Also, Maloukis asked each member of the organization to remind campus organizations to send members to the general CAB meetings.

This would insure every organization had an equal chance to participate in events.

The next event the organization is looking forward to in order to bring the campus together is the Block Party at 7 p.m. on Sept. 30.

It will feature family-friendly music and other activities related to Family Weekend.

All students are welcome to come to the next CAB meeting at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Student Activities Office on the second floor of the Billingsly Student Center.

If the attendance is large enough, the meeting will be moved to the Lion’s Den.