SGA passes funding for FIER, hears bill to fund German Club
The Student Government Association (SGA) passed one bill and introduced another during this week’s meeting. SGA heard from Kate Fitzgerald, the University of South Dakota’s Director of Housing.
Fitzgerald said the housing application for next year is open and that housing has made some changes this year.
“We now have a 24-hour cancellation period. Once you sign up to get an email and if you really didn’t want to sign the contract, you can go ahead and within 24-hours you can cancel that,” Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald said Brookman Hall will not be available to residents next year and that renovations are continuing on Richardson Hall into next year on the second and third floor, although the fourth floor renovations have been completed.
“We’ve hear some good things from students (on Richardson fourth floor) so far,” Fitzgerald said. “Our plan is to keep renovating all of the North Complex halls, they are overdue for renovations.”
Senator Caleb Weiland said he had heard concerns from students that the renovations on Richardson fourth floor could be more sustainable than they are, specifically mentioning the water saved with automatic faucets.
Fitzgerald said she could bring up using more sustainable renovations to the design team.
“Facilities management does the design of these renovations so I can certainly bring that up to them,” Fitzgerald said.
SGA passed Senate Bill 69 unanimously. The bill provided funds for Film International Enthusiast Relations (FIER). The student organization was appropriated $250 from SGA to host their events.
Senator Reagan Kolberg, the chair of the Finance Committee, introduced the bill.
“The Finance Committee supports this special appropriation and think (FIER) did a good job at problem-solving,” Kolberg said.
Kolberg also introduced Senate Bill 71, which funded the German Club during this meeting. The student organization requested $185 and the Finance Committee amended the budget to $155.
Sedonah Franzen is the president of the German Club, also called Deutschklub. Franzen said this is only the club’s second year on campus.
“German has kind of a bad reputation. Everyone thinks it just sounds angry all the time and what German club is really there for is to show that German can be really fun and that German culture goes past recent German history,” Franzen said. “Our mission in German Club is outreach and making German a lot more approachable for people. That’s why most of our events we have planned are really more fun and passively educational.”
Franzen said there are around 10-12 members of the club, but that the best way to join the club would be to join the club on USD Involved. German Club usually only hosts one event a month. They hosted Oktoberfest last month and are hosting the Berlin Wall Bash today from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. today.
