Multiple topics were covered during the Student Government Association (SGA) meeting on Thursday. Three different groups came to meet with the committee looking for funding for their groups.
The meeting began with announcements from committees within the SGA, who had managed to get a microwave for the dining area, as well as a smoothie bar for the mornings (beginning next year), and possibly getting Whitey’s ice cream in The Brew.
They also announced that all money granted to the OSL last meeting had been entirely refunded.
The three groups that made an appearance were the Anime Club, Men and Women’s Club Volleyball, and SAGA.
The Anime Club was asking SGA for financial help to make a trip to Anime Midwest 2016, an event celebrating anime and Japanese culture.
The group asked for $990 to buy three-day entry tickets for twenty-two people. The money would not be used to cover any other expenses. The Anime Club would pay for all other expenses itself.
The SGA agreed to grant the Anime Club the full $990.
Men and Women’s Volleyball asked for help with funding for the very first time. Their trip to their Division 1 volleyball tournament was under-funded for the first time due to the funding being spread among different clubs this year.
They were going to be traveling to Louisville, KY to compete in the tournament that they had been practicing for all year. They would be competing as one of the smallest schools in the tournament against thousands of other teams.
After short discussion, the SGA agreed to grant them all the funds that they had asked for.
SAGA, represented by editors-in-chief Alyssa Froehling and Elena Leith, asked for $4,164 to help fully fund the magazine and all the events that surround it.
The SAGA publication group collects student artwork and expression throughout the year to compile them into an eighty-page magazine that is given to students for free.
Recently, they have had multiple issues, such as printing quality, prices for printing, and lack of funding help from any groups on campus.
With many funding issues, SAGA had considered options such as adding advertisements into the magazine, as well as charging students to buy them.
They explained to the SGA that they would only do this as a last resort, because advertisements would cheapen the experience, and charging students for the magazine had no promises of being effective.
Froehling and Leith were adamant that the publication was being managed as best it could be, and that failing to publish the magazine would break a tradition that Augustana has held since 1937.
After a discussion, the SGA agreed to grant SAGA the funding that the publication needed.
Regarding the funds granted, Froehling had said, “We are grateful to the SGA for providing these funds, as it will allow us to be more active and involved on campus and further engage with the student body . . . we will be able to hold a release party for the magazine, celebrating student artists and writers as well as their creative works that were selected for publication this year.”
After all of the contingencies had been presented, the SGA moved on to their sub-committees to discuss developing topics.
One of the topics mentioned, one that has been gaining attention, was Senator Stevens’ idea of a Mental Health Awarness event on campus.
The intention’s of the event would be to have a speaker come to Augustana to shed light on the often hidden issue of student’s mental health.
“It’s simply about more mental health awareness. I want students to be able to recognize mental health problems, like anxiety or depression, better.” said Stevens. “If someone has a roommate who keeps missing classes all the time, just laying around, maybe they’re not being lazy, maybe it’s something else.”
Stevens had said that it was still an idea in progress, perhaps adding in some workshops to get students more involved, but everything at the moment was speculation.
He concluded by saying, “I would hope this would be a helpful event that, if you do have depression or something, it would help someone seek counseling or recognize it within someone else.”