The Undergraduate Student Government approved the Voter’s Awareness Group and the Obscure Sports Club at its meeting Sunday night.
The Voter’s Awareness Group’s mission statement says the club’s purpose is to increase voter awareness and turnout at St. Thomas in an impartial way during elections.
Junior Sean Higgins told the council the club would also go to St. Paul College, Hamline and Macalester to register students to vote and provide students with a voter form with candidates’ information.
“We would have information from the candidates so students could learn more about them,” Higgins said. “Our goal is to create a more informed environment.”
The Obscure Sports Club’s mission statement says the club will serve as an organization that will create awareness of activities and sports with no representation on campus.
Junior Jamie Byrnes said he did chemistry research this summer, and some days he would play four square with friends. Byrnes said he hopes to extend the low-stress games to all students at St. Thomas. The club currently has 35 members.
Day at the Capitol to discuss state grants
Doug Hennes, vice president of university relations, spoke to the council about a “Day at the Capitol” event, which will be held Thursday, March 10.
Hennes said the event’s purpose is to speak with local legislators about Minnesota state grants and the importance of secondary education.
Those who attend will receive a policy and lobbying briefing including comments from Minnesota House and Senate members who represent the campus. They’ll meet with legislators and attend a question and answer session. The Minnesota Private College Council provides the training and materials and makes legislative appointments for participants.
According to a Minnesota Private College Council packet, 1,477 St. Thomas students received state grants in the 2009-2010 academic year. In 2009-2010, 85,000 Minnesota undergraduates received aid through the state grant program, and last year only 18,000 were awarded grants for 2010-2011 due to the program’s deficit.
More information is available at the “University of St. Thomas Day at the Capitol” Facebook page or at www.mnprivatecolleges.org.
Student printing discussion
Sam Levy, vice president of information resources and technology, talked to the council about the 100 megabytes of bandwidth upgrade in January and the deal with Comcast to make all St. Thomas TV channels high definition. He also spoke about St. Thomas’ printing policy.
On a student survey given last week, 20 percent of students said the university needs to improve the printing quota, Levy said.
The university is working to find a way to improve or change the printing policy based on student feedback, Levy said.
Ashley Stewart can be reached at stew1177@stthomas.edu.