The ASUI meeting this Wednesday, Sept. 4 was filled with over a dozen students looking to fill one of the four vacant senator positions. Arielle Hebison, Lance Butikofer, Bryan Ruiz and Harrison Brown are the new senators chosen for the 2024-25 academic year.
President Martha Smith announced that she was currently working on supplying free food at the UI Student Recreation Center on election day to incentivize students to vote. Her goal is to have as many student voters as possible, she said. It is important to her to see representation of students’ opinions in the polls.
Smith and Vice President Emma Johnston met with University President Scott Green over this past week to discuss multiple items on their agenda, including revamping the Idaho Student Association. ASUI is currently working with the State Board of Education to achieve this goal.
They spoke to Green about the need for student ticketing transparency, ensuring that it is a simple and consistent process.
Smith also placed an emphasis on campus safety while meeting with Green. She said she finds it important to have Narcan available in all areas of campus and that there was progress being made towards that. Additionally, having planned fire drills that professors can go over with students at the beginning of the semester will help prioritize student safety.
ASUI has continuously been working towards a safer campus. Recently, they have promoted the use of the Rave Guardian app as an alternative to the blue light emergency system. Senators said that they hope this app can replace the blue light system with an easier, more accessible emergency alert program.
One bill brought forth the proposed allotment of $500 to purchase giveaway items for social media engagement. Senator Kaylee McCulloch spoke about this bill, saying that social media is an easy way to communicate and connect with students. Often, many students do not understand what ASUI is or its goals. The best way to increase involvement is to make students aware of what is happening in ASUI on campus, she said. The public relations board will oversee brainstorming ways to enact these giveaways, but the current plan is to schedule biweekly giveaways to get consistent online engagement and to get students excited.
Rebekah Weaver can be reached at [email protected].