At the Dec. 1 Student Government Association Senate meeting, student government passed their final bill for the semester to provide winter care packages to residential students staying on campus during the winter break.
The care package includes snacks, mugs and hot cocoa for student residents to pick up. Senator at Large Aiyanna Quinones and Senator of Public Affairs Carson Hodges sponsored the bill to provide dining services and entertainment for the students over winter break.
The two senators want to ensure the dorm students are taken care of, “so that they don’t feel left behind, and they don’t feel alienated, and they don’t feel bored over the break as well. Because that would not be nice,” Hodges said. “Look at those [the supplies] and think about the impact that each one of those would have on a student that harbors at campus for several weeks.”
According to Quinones, one of the biggest motivating factors for providing food to dorm students is due to the unavailability of dining services during the break, which has been a common complaint for student residents who stay on campus during the winter break.
Senator at Large Maddie Tyson spoke in favor of the bill. “I know the struggles of being in a dorm and not necessarily having all access to food, so this is why I think this is a great idea,” Tyson said.
SGA volunteers will be handing out the care packages at the Summit Village Lounge from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Dec. 16, and will be on a first come, first serve basis.
In Other News:
- SGA passed SB-14: Health and Wellness Center Fee that will allow students to vote next semester on whether to increase the fee for the Health and Wellness Center to $127.84 from the current $63.92. Assistant Vice Chancellor for Health and Wellness Stephanie Hanenberg spoke for the bill, saying that the center will lose two clinicians and the online therapy platform along with other resources if the fee does not pass. The fee increase would also help fund other projects the Wellness Center has been working on.
- SGA heard from Chancellor Venkat Reddy who spoke about multiple subjects, including the issue of funding for the school. Reddy explained how higher education in Colorado is in the bottom five for state funding in the country and how UCCS has little money to work with, which often results in tuition increases. Reddy briefly introduced a new budgeting model that will hopefully combat the issue.
- SGA made an ad-hoc committee of senators to organize a Concert on the Lawn event next spring.
