Student Government Recap: Week 2

Senate discusses student club standings in depthMeghan McLaughlinThe Santa ClaraOctober 5, 2017Deliberation over the status of student interest clubs dominated the most recent Associated Student Government (ASG) meeting on Thursday, Sept. 28.Clubs requesting Registered Student Organization (RSO) status presented their platforms to the Senate, followed by updates from the Executive Board and committee divisions.Talk circulated around the Senate of creating a new type of RSO that gives a club RSO status, but does not require ASG funding. That way, the club can table on campus to promote interest, but would not automatically receive funding from ASG if said club does not anticipate any expenses.This concept has been temporarily dubbed “RSO Lite.” The topic will be discussed further at another meeting.Six clubs requesting RSO status presented proposals to the senate and two passed.The other four clubs were tabled and the senate will vote on their status during the week three meeting.The first club to present and gain RSO status was the Forge Garden Club. Junior Evie Kinkade, an intern at the Forge Garden, senior Lois Om and sophomore Sammi Zamora shared their passion for the agricultural sustainability with ASG. Their goal is to team up with the Forge Garden to promote healthy eating and to integrate sustainable practices into students’ lives.They plan on getting students involved by holding events such as an ice creammaking workshop with fresh ingredients from the garden and a succulent pot painting workshop.The second club to present and pass was the Golf Club. President Ryan Blair and Vice President Colin Alexander explained their stance on the addition of a golf club at Santa Clara in their fiveminute time allowance.In the absence of a club golf team, students who want to play a round of golf with others will now have an organized group to play with. The goal is to gather people with a common interest in golf and play at times that are most accessible for students.Vice President Sam Pérez announced that ASG will be producing a new sexual assault awareness video that is expected to replace How to Thread a Moving Needle. ASG has received money from donors for this endeavor and is working with the theater department.Maggie Hurlbut of the Public Relations branch spoke to the importance of the Bronco News videos that will consistently be posted on the ASG website.“One of our missions this year in the PR branch is to shed more light on the positive things that you guys are doing. I think there are a lot of initiatives that don’t get widely noticed,” Hurlbut said to the Senate.Alex Perlman of the Facilities and Operations Committee mentioned getting ACCESS cards available to students on their phones. He also spoke about potentially adding digital art as a major or minor and getting compost bins for off-campus housing.The ASG Senate will meet again during week three on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the California Mission Room.Contact Meghan McLaughlin at mmclaughlin@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.