By Hayley Leitzinger

STUDENT Senate on Monday night gave its approval for a freshman to join the board, approved additional funds for the Ski and Outdoor club to host a skiing trip and addressed the issue of campus sustainability.

The first order of business was to hear freshman Nyla Nell’s presentation. Nell is from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and president of the anime club. The largest part of her goal was to improve communication between the maintenance staff and students. She felt it was important to recognize the maintenance staff, because all of their hard work usually goes unnoticed. 

After her presentation was finished, the Senate was allotted five minutes of questioning time to speak with her about her ideas. One question included how she would balance making positive relationships between facilities and students while still advocating for students and their concerns. She responded by sharing her idea for a “get-to-know-you-lunch.” Nell explained that in this friendly setting, students would have time to sit down and get to know the people who do all the maintenance work. In this manner, they could forge relationships with each other and students would feel comfortable voicing their concerns.

After the allotted time was up, Nell sat down to the sound of applause with a smile on her face as her friend gave her a high-five.

Next, the president and vice president of the Ski and Outdoor club took the floor and shared a slide show using the projector. Their proposed amount of funds was $1780 to cover the cost of 20 members to go to Blue Mountain Resort on March 18. After their slideshow was finished, they fielded questions that included how they were going to raise funds for their trip and if the $1780 encompassed the ticket alone or equipment rentals as well. They explained that they would raise 10% of what was needed for the trip in addition to the $1780 they were requesting. They also explained that equipment rentals, for those who needed it, would be an out-of-pocket $48 dollars; the $1780 only covered the tickets.

Following their presentation, the Senate moved on to an open forum and organizational announcements. During the open forum, concerns were expressed within the Senate body and on the floor about sustainability on campus. A discussion took place about what efforts were being done to maintain sustainability and what students could do to increase it even more. Some conversation took place about how students could work to keep the campus clean and, per Nell’s idea, have a service day where students participate in cleaning the campus and in maintaining the surrounding grounds. 

Gabby Irizarry, a freshman majoring in human services, was asked later by The Spartan about her reaction to the discussion. “I am not sure why sustainability has suddenly become such an issue on campus,” she said. “I know the college has introduced a few new measures … but I was not sure what else they were doing.”

Added Mir Monticchio, a freshman majoring in graphic design, “I feel like parts of YCP are pretty outdated, and the resources students need are not already provided.”

Megan Fitzpatrick, a recreational leadership major, was also told about what occurred at the meeting. She offered an idea of the school implementing “a composting system on campus for residents that could reduce waste.”

Another idea that was addressed during the open forum was implementing a community bulletin board. This would be a board with a glass cover so it could be placed outside, where clubs and organizations could post announcements. The idea behind this board was that it would become less crowded than the other boards, because people would have to go through Lora Snyder, the Campus Activities Board organizer, to unlock it, rather than simply sticking as many flyers as one wants onto the large pegboards in the ISU, for example.

Responded Monticchio to a question about that idea, “I do think a community bulletin board would be helpful because  I always look at the flyers hanging around campus to see what events are happening.” Irizarry said she loved the idea. “[It] would be awesome! As it is, the other boards get so crowded that it is difficult to read what is happening, especially when flyers get stacked on top of one another.”

Fitzpatrick was more skeptical. “I don’t typically look at the billboards that are currently up, I think using online platforms including emails and social media reaches our campus better.,” she said.

Once the open forum and organizational announcements were finished, the ballot results were revealed. Nell was elated when they announced she would be sworn into Senate and the members of the Ski and Outdoor club was just as excited when they heard their funds to Blue Mountain had been approved.

Once these two announcements were finished, Student Senate President Charlie Green swore in Nell with the Senate’s oath. The meeting was then adjourned.

Hayley is a freshman at YCP and her major is currently undeclared. She is considering Occupational Therapy and is tailoring her classes this semester toward that career.

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