SGA Introduces Special Appropriation, Passes Two Bills
Two bills were passed by the Student Government Association (SGA) during Tuesday night’s meeting. The Korean Student Association also presented their schedule, requesting a special appropriation from SGA.
Kate Fitzgerald, Interim Associate Dean of Students, delivered the advisor’s report stating Swipe Out Hunger applications opened last Friday and are available to students who are facing food insecurity. Applications can be found on the USD website.
Senate Bills (SB) 77 “A Bill Codifying When Amendments Take Effect” and SB 82 “Audit Act of 2022” were both reviewed for their third reading. Grammatical edits were made to SB 82, with both bills passing unanimously.
Senator Katie Conzet introduced SB 83 “Korean Student Association Special Appropriation.” The special appropriation bill looks to increase the food budget for the Korean Student Association. The organization previously requested $220, but received $50. Vice President of the Korean Student Association Erica Martinez said she hopes to have the funds by the end of this month in time for their first event.
“Our plans are to increase the knowledge and appreciation of Korean culture at USD. Coming up, we’ll start with the spicy noodle challenge event,” Martinez said.
$7,630 remains in the special appropriations fund. The bill will be seen next week for its second reading.
SGA also raised discussion on the concerns around USD’s new catering provider, Sodexo. SGA President Caleb Weiland said he hopes to meet with the Student Federation members this week to further discuss issues regarding long wait lines, higher prices and contract changes.
“I see this as a vulnerability for our university with retention numbers and with how we can perform because we’re finally hitting our stride post COVID-19. The things we’ve been promised and what has been shown and evident as of today is not what we have been promised,” Weiland said.
SGA will meet again next week at 6:30 p.m. in the Freedom Forum and will be live on Facebook.
