UPDATED: SGA to purchase $6,200 in new tablets
[notification type=”grey” title=”Clarification”]The Student Government Association spent $2,350 from its remaining general operating budget from FY14 on 28 tablets. The rest of the cost is covered by Kim Grieve and Student Services. In a general summary release sent to SGA members and The Volante, president Tyler Tordsen said no funds are coming from reserve funds, and because the funds are coming from the general budget, no bill or resolution is needed. [/notification]Samsung Three Galaxy tablets are going to be purchased for each senator on the Student Government Association by the end of the spring semester.
The $6,200 expenditure is part of a larger initiative by SGA “to focus on our carbon footprint,” said President Tyler Tordsen.
“(SGA is) really trying to be more eco-friendly,” he said. “We are figuring out some easy things we can get done now, but also keeping the long-term mindset.”
Funding for the purchase is being assisted by the Student Services office and Dean of Students Kim Grieve. Tordsen said SGA is working with Grieve, because “she wants to make the investment with us…that way, it is not a big chunk out of (SGA’s) pocket.”
Senators will use the new tablets instead of bringing their personal technology like laptops or iPads, because Tordsen said he does not want to discourage anyone who cannot afford the technology from running for SGA. He also said he wants all of the senators to use the same system so they can be trained together and can easily view shared documents.
Senators will use the tablets exclusively for meetings, and SGA Vice President Dustin Santjer said the items will pay for themselves when it comes down to the ink, maintenance and paper costs for the printers.
“Just avoiding printing all of the bills, amendments to the bills and those supporting documents, we have saved a ton of money,” he said. “They are a very efficient purchase for us.”
Tordsen said he estimates SGA uses $1,500 on printing alone, excluding the cost of ink and paper. He said with the quality of the tablets, if they last five years, the savings from the printing budget will be reallocated to other student organizations.
“A thousand bucks goes a long way when we’re funding our student (organizations),” Tordsen said.
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While I appreciate the fact that USD is finally realizing the need for social responsibility on campus, I don’t think this is the correct avenue for this venture, nor the use of $6200. It is ridiculous to provide SGA senators tablets to use, as stated”Just avoiding printing all of the bills, amendments to the bills and those supporting documents…” When there are much better uses of this money, such as sidewalk repairs, parking lot repairs, etc. How about they use some of the money to remove the huge fence surrounding the MUC expansion on the east side? That eyesore has been there for 5 months post expansion completion. Additionally, USD has laptops they could provide SGA senators, that have already been paid for. Or since SGA is only going to be using the tablets for shared docs, and internet, why not use some of the older desktop computers, that are no longer sufficient for use in the library, Beacom, or Neuharth due to being outdated and too slow to handle the new software.
This is an absolute outrage and complete waste of funds! SGA needs to focus more on actual USD issues, and worry less about what they are going to use to view their bills and shared docs.
“A thousand bucks goes a long way when we’re funding our student (organizations),” Tordsen said.—But yet, spending $6200 on tablets, is a great use of funding? I don’t think so! Get it together SGA, I hope my fellow Yotes voice their opinions on this as well.