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Student representatives have devised an easy way for students to speak to their student government.
At an Associated Students of the University of New Mexico Senate meeting Wednesday night, the Outreach and Appointments Committee outlined its plan for the Student Input Forum, which is scheduled for Oct. 2.
The forum, which aims to give students the opportunity “to speak with someone to represent your interests and concerns,” will take place in the SUB Atrium from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
ASUNM Sen. Mercedes Pratt said senators at the forum will be divided into three groups. One group will be responsible for grabbing students’ attention and signing them in. Another group will have students fill out surveys, and the third will talk to students about the Lottery Scholarship and ASUNM in general, Pratt said.
“The point of this forum is not just for the students to get information about what we’re doing at ASUNM, but also for us to get their concerns and their input as well,” she said.
Pratt said there would be a banner for students to write down issues they want the senators to be aware of.
“If they want us to be aware of a problem they have, they can write it on this big banner that we’re going to have,” she said.
ASUNM Sen. Frankie Gonzales said there will be a raffle and prizes, pictures with Lobo Lucy, tables set up to talk about the Lottery and tuition, and free food. He said the forum was “probably one of the biggest things that (Outreach and Appointments) has worked on in a while.”
“If we want to pull this off, if we want ASUNM to look good, this is our opportunity to do it,” he said.
Finance
The senate also debated how to best allocate money for organizations.
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At the meeting, the senate voted to grant $754 to the UNM Dream Team.
Sen. Rachel Williams said the money will go toward a town hall event that will raise awareness of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals memo from President Barack Obama in 2012.
According to a document at the meeting, the money would go toward food, copying, advertising, honorarium and film rights for a documentary.
While the Dream Team originally requested $800, Williams said the committee decided to reduce the amount given for advertising.
“We chose to reduce their advertising,” she said. “The reason why there was contention was because there was question as to whether we should give them funding at all for the advertising.”
The senate also voted to grant $754 to the UNM Panhellenic next semester.
According to the its website, the College Panhellenic Council at UNM “serves as the governing body for the four nationally recognized sororities belonging to the National Panhellenic Conference.”
The money will go toward travel expenses for two members of the Panhellenic to attend a summit.
In an email, ASUNM Chief of Staff Taylor Bui said the representatives would “attend a national conference, wherein many leadership development strategies would be discussed.”
While the Panhellenic requested $1,210, Williams said some of the funding was reduced due to miscalculations and restrictions on how much can be given for registration fees.
“The per diem was incorrectly calculated. That’s why the per diem was reduced,” she said. “The airfare was calculated much higher than it should have been.”
