Student Senate hears renovation plan for study area
Missouri Southern Student Senators Verenice Rodriguez and Nga Vo proposed plans for renovations to the study area inside Billingsly Student Center during the senate’s weekly meeting.
The Missouri Southern Student Senate’s Capital Improvement Committee tabled recommendations for improvements to the Billingsly Student Center during Wednesday night’s meeting.
The official proposal, which the committee presented in front of the entire Senate body, included the purchase of eight new tables and a 32-inch television for the study area across from the bookstore.
“There are a lot of groups that spend half their day there, and the tables are falling apart. It’s a hassle,” said Student Senator Nga Vo who brought the proposal to the Senate body. “I’ve had a lot of students come to me and complain, so we need a change.”
The proposal, which the committee did not approve, would allow the Senate to purchase the tables at a discounted cost of $794.70 each, a markdown of $971.30 per table.
The proposal listed the cost of the most expensive of the two televisions at $149.99. The total cost of all eight tables and the T.V. would equal $6,507.59.
The Senate proposed several changes to the original plan including purchasing half the tables this semester and half the tables in the spring, cutting down the number of tables purchased from eight to five, and including the acquisition of matching chairs.
Senator Jacob Layne proposed holding an “Ask a Senator” event to get feedback from students.
“Ultimately, as Senators we’re the representatives of the students,” said Layne, sophomore political science major. “Before we spend this large sum of money we need to ask them if they support this, we need their consent. It would look incredibly bad if we spent $8,000 on tables and a T.V. without notifying them,” Layne added.
The Senate ultimately tabled the proposal until they can gather more information, including precise measurements of the study area, and a count of chairs that need to be replaced.
“We need to make sure this is something that students want,” said Senator Tommy Jung, senior mass communication major. “Our fellow students gave us as Senators the right to be here, and it’s important that we spend their money wisely.”
Renovations approved by the Senate will come out of their current budget of $54,100.78.
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