SGA votes on SE Link potential name change and four new funding board proposals

Student Government Association (SGA) began their Monday, Nov. 6, meeting with discussion on possible name changes to replace “SE Link”, a part of SEMO’s homepage that aids in discovering different organizations and events on campus. The options included SE Connect, Redhawk Connect, Engage SEMO, ImmerSE and Finding SEMO.

Through debate upon if the idea was unprofessional, SGA STEM College senator Anna Carpenter said the choice she preferred was Finding SEMO.

“I honestly kind of like ‘Finding SEMO’ because it sticks out so much in your mind. You want college students to use this, so if something is funny, they’re obviously going to look it up,” Carpenter said.

With an almost unanimous vote, Finding SEMO won with the most votes between the five options, but it is unsure if the name will actually be changed to this.

New business in the meeting consisted of funding board proposals from two student organizations, Chi Alpha and Model United Nations, along with two other organizations, Mississippi Mugs and Literati.

Chi Alpha is a national interdenominational organization in which any student of Chrisitian faith is accepted. The group requested a grant of $1,050 to be divided evenly amongst 14 students in the organization for covering registration costs to attend their winter conference. The request was passed by senators.

Model United Nations is a student organization that focuses on international issues affecting students in their everyday lives. Every year, the organization holds two high school conferences on SEMO’s campus and attends one annual Model United Nations conference in Chicago, which is the event funds were proposed for.

Their proposal was initially $1,122 to be divided evenly amongst 17 students, totaling $68 per person to reimburse train ticket costs, since the group already attended the conference Nov. 1-2.

Upon further discussion, Jonah McGuire, SGA humanities and social sciences senator and Model United Nations member, moved to amend the proposal to lower the first funding request to $1,014, due to there being only 13 students of the initial 17 in attendance at the conference. This number would cover the entire cost of every student’s $78 train ticket. Both the amendment and the new proposition were passed.

Literati is a faculty-nominated board made up of juniors, seniors and graduate students. The organization publishes academic writing, specifically critical analyses of works that have already been published. Students analyze and research these works to ultimately write a paper they submit for publication in Literati. SGA passed their proposed amount of $350 to help cover printing costs of their journal between 108 to 110 pages.

Lastly, Mississippi Mugs, a coffee stand in Kent Library, requested funding from SGA to help cover the cost of stock during Fall 2021 finals week, in order to clear inventory and offer free refreshments to students while studying.

The proposal consisted of coverage for half of the cost of each item, up to 75 cents per item to be totaled after the stand closes Dec. 15. SGA sponsors then proposed a reimbursement of up to $300 to Mississippi Mugs for lost expenses on items offered for free to students during finals week.

Humanities and social sciences senator Sarah St. John said she is an avid drinker of Mississippi Mugs’ coffee and was in full support of the proposal.

“It’s student-run, like another student job on campus, and they don’t get to do a lot,” St. John said. “It varies every year on whether or not they will have the stand, depending on if there are enough people interested in drinking the coffee there. This would be a great thing to bring attention to Mississippi Mugs and get more kids interested in it.”

The proposal for Mississippi Mugs was passed for the full $300.

For more information on the Student Government Association, visit their website.