GUEST SUBMISSION: Students should get involved in SGA legislation and elections
Welcome back everyone. I trust you all had an enjoyable holiday break, and I hope you got to spend time with friends and family.
As we enter the spring 2012 semester, my purpose for writing to you is two-fold. First, I would like to encourage student involvement in the legislative session and support for the Good Samaritan Alcohol Policy currently being considered in the legislature. I would also like to encourage student participation in the
upcoming Student Government Association elections.
Members of your student government will have the opportunity to be in Pierre three or four times during the legislative session collaborating with students from the South Dakota Student Federation and lobbying for higher education.
The South Dakota Student Federation is an organization composed of members of all the regental institutions who function primarily to lobby for higher education and policy pertinent to students of higher education.
This year, the Student Federation’s top priority, the Good Samaritan Alcohol Policy, seeks to help students in cases when they cannot help themselves. Like many medical amnesty policies enacted at state and institutional
levels across this country, the Good Samaritan Alcohol Policy would provide judicial immunity for a small number (one to three) of underage individuals if they need to seek medical attention for someone with an alcohol related sickness or injury. The Good Samaritan Alcohol Policy is not a get-out-of-jail free card but rather a proven policy designed with safety in mind.
Last year, a similar provision to the Good Samaritan Alcohol Policy passed in the State Senate but failed in a House committee. This year’s bill, still in draft form at this time, is expected to be introduced in to the State House first. Members of the Student Federation and your student government attended the first day of the legislative
session and have been contacting legislators over the past weeks and months. We will also be attending Students for Higher Education Days Feb. 5 to 6 to lobby for the Good Samaritan Alcohol Policy. I strongly encourage those interested in the policy to seek more information and contact your state legislators via the South Dakota Legislature website.
Finally, SGA elections for both Executive and Senate positions will be held on Feb. 29 and March 1. Information on the elections will be available around Feb. 1. Please do not hesitate to contact any current member of SGA if you have any questions at all.
I wish all of you a great semester!. Go Yotes.
