Student Senate addresses variety of issues

On+Oct.+21%2C+Student+Senate+addressed+several+topics.+Topics+included+new+candidates%2C+appropriations+and+vehicle+burglaries.+Funding+appropriations+voting+will+take+place+at+the+next+meeting+on+Oct.+28.

Levi Andrew | The Chart

On Oct. 21, Student Senate addressed several topics. Topics included new candidates, appropriations and vehicle burglaries. Funding appropriations voting will take place at the next meeting on Oct. 28.

The Student Senate met for its weekly session Wednesday night in the conference room of the Billingsly Student Center. The abbreviated session brought news that the Senate will be interviewing two new candidates for the body to bolster the ranks of their assemblage.

There are currently ten vacant seats on the Student Senate. The unnamed candidates are set to interview before the body this week. The applicants will then be present during the October 28, 2015, session of the Senate where the Senators will vote to determine their fates. If successful, the nominees will fill the unoccupied seats immediately.

Treasurer Victoria Miller confirmed the Senate’s current budget to be $54,972.98.

The treasurer also disclosed the purchase of new trash bins that the Senate will place around campus. The new garbage containers do not have the familiar ashtrays attached to them to which Southern smokers may be accustomed. The new trash cans will replace the current receptacles that surround main entrances on campus. The Senate purchased the containers at a cost $9,489.22 to encourage students and faculty to abide by Southern’s new smoke-free campus policy.

In new business, recent Student Senate appointee Abigail McGuire, freshman mass communication major, also addressed the rash of recent vehicle burglaries on campus. McGuire urged fellow Senators to get involved in helping.

“I spoke with a campus police officer about the break-in of cars around the dorms that have been troubling,” said McGuire. “I believe we can do something about this whether it be through our budget, a publication telling people to keep an eye out for this kind of activity, or increased security.”

In other news, two student organizations went before the Appropriations Committee requesting funds for travel and conference expenses.

Delta Mu Delta, the business honor society, sought $942 to fund the group’s trip to a biennial leadership conference in Kansas City, MO., on November 6-8. The society was one of four teams in the nation selected to compete in a national student competition taking place at the conference.

“I’m excited about it, I’ve never been to one,” said Delta Mu Delta President Holly Loncarich, senior international business major. “I don’t entirely know what to expect but we got some good feedback on our competition submission so were hoping they like it.”

The second student organization to request funding from the committee was the Missouri Dental Hygiene Association. The Association attended a conference at the Lake of the Ozarks and petitioned for the maximum Student Senate funding allocation of $1,000 to reimburse 10 of the 55 members who attended the conference for their costs.

“It’s a great opportunity because we get to go there and continue our education and bring that information back to the clinic and use it there,” said Heather Ashmore, senior dental hygiene major.

The dental hygiene students competed in a board review during the conference where Southern Students won the first and third place.

“Were pretty proud of that,” said Ashmore.

Student Senate will vote on all funding appropriations during next week’s Student Senate meeting on October 28, 2015.