By RAEGAN NEUFELD
Tiger Media Network
Members of the Student Government Association once again expressed disappointment on Thursday regarding the road, parking lot and sidewalk conditions on campus following the recent snow and cold temperatures.
President Ella Burrows mentioned the issue first in her executive report.
“I did speak with the grounds department about clearing campus,” she said. “They said they were trying their best. I didn’t think that was a great answer, so I’ll talk to President (Tisa) Mason about it during Presidents’ Roundtable on Monday.”
Sen. Noah Erichsen, who was outspoken about his disappointment with campus conditions last week, referenced a recent Tiger Media Network article featuring input from Director of Building and Maintenance Operations Terry Pfeifer. In the article, Pfeifer outlined the protocol followed during winter weather.
“Obviously (the protocol) is not working because it took them 14 days to finish the last parking lot from the last time it snowed and 11 days since classes started,” Erichsen said.
Erichsen asked Burrows to mention this to Mason on Monday, saying a protocol change needs to happen.
“It seems like there’s just a lack of wanting to actually remove the snow,” he said.
Sen. Kyler Semrad asked what windchill is deemed too cold by the university in order to cancel class.
“To me, there were a couple [of] days where it just seemed ridiculous that a lot of people had to walk to class, so I just wanted to know what the cutoff is,” he said. “I know other universities canceled class because of windchill advisories, so I was curious.”
Burrows said she would discuss both points with Mason.
Aside from the snow concerns, senators discussed the ongoing fee review and allocations process and preparation for Higher Education Day.
According to Legislative Affairs Director Austin Ruff, fee review hearings by the Legislative and Political Action Committee have started and will go on until next Tuesday.
In these hearings, the committee reviews requests from various campus organizations that receive money from student fees. The bill outlining these requests will have its first reading on Feb. 8 and the second on Feb. 15. Senators will vote on the bill after its second reading.
Ruff also mentioned Higher Education Day, a day where students from each Kansas Board of Regents institution travel to Topeka and speak with state legislators about higher education needs.
This year’s trip is scheduled for Feb. 14.
“We should be able to meet with around 20 to 25 representatives,” Ruff said.
According to Burrows, students will also have the opportunity to meet Gov. Laura Kelly.
SGA will meet again next week at 7 p.m. on Feb. 1 in the Black and Gold Room.