ASUSU proposes purchasing sound system
Sound equipment rental fees have been the cause of past student fee drains that ASUSU Executive Council members aim to put a damper on in the future.
A bill requesting about $40,000 to purchase sound equipment was submitted by the ASUSU Executive Council on Tuesday.
“The bill is proposing to borrow no more than $40,000 from this account to purchase sound equipment,” Zach Larsen, vice president of Programming, said.
Purchasing the sound equipment could save USU more than $300,000 in student fees over the next 25-30 years, according to council members. A bill to provide funding for the creation of a volunteer tracking system was also proposed.
Larsen said ASUSU spent more than $85,000 renting sound equipment over the past five years. By buying its own equipment, ASUSU will save $25,000 during the next five years and $75,000 for each five-year period thereafter, he said.
Larsen said the average lifespan of such sound equipment is 25-30 years. If the equipment lasts that long, ASUSU will save an estimated $325,000 in student fees.
He said the proposed expense would be borrowed from ASUSU’s interest and return account and will be paid back over a five-year period by ASUSU officers, directors and event accounts.
Kirsten Frank, ASUSU executive vice president, said the interest and return account is made up of funds left over from the capital and support fund, which is capped at $54,000. She said that fund is an account where money not used by ASUSU over the course of the year is deposited for future use, as a sort of rainy day fund.
Requests for funds from both accounts must be approved by the Capital and Support Board and the Executive Council, Frank said. The board is made up of two school legislators, two directors, and two school senators with Eric Mikkelsen, ASUSU president, as the board chair.
Larsen said the equipment would be made available to other school organizations for a reasonable fee.
Frank, who co-sponsored and voted for the bill, said the purchase would be a sound investment.
“I think this is a very fiscally responsible thing to do,” Frank said. “It’s going to benefit a lot of students in the long run — and the short run — actually.”
The other bill, which proposes the creation of a volunteer tracking system, will allow students to track volunteer hours online, Maddie Busteed, ASUSU vice president Service, said. Many students need to track service hours for scholarships, clubs and other programs they’re involved in, she said.
“This tracking system would be something that would be accessed online and it’s open to every and any student to go on and log their service hours,” Busteed said.
Busteed said the program will continue to help students after they graduate.
“When you are graduated and you get to look on how many service hours you did during your time in college,” Busteed said, “you can look at it, you can reflect on all of your experiences, you can print out the whole sheet of all your hours and use that for any type of application or resume.”
Members of the council said they hope to use the system to promote volunteering in their programs.
“It will help the (student traditions and activities) board keep track of all of our volunteers and be able to give incentives for the most hours earned,” Larsen said.
The system will be designed with help from a focus group made up of students appointed from various school organizations, Frank said.
“They’re having a focus group meeting where they are pulling in students from all the different organizations to brainstorm good ideas and specifics for the program,” Frank said.
Busteed said the bill requests no more than a one-time payment of $3,000 from the capital and support fund.
Both bills passed as first reading items. The bills will be read again and voted on by the council during its next meeting.
The council also voted to pass ECB 2012-04, proposed last week, which sets technology limitations for students campaigning during ASUSU elections next semester. The bill limits campaigners to one laptop at each of their A-frame stations. Hannah Blackburn, ASUSU public relations director, said the bill will also stop campaigners from pressuring students to vote by handing them smart devices to vote on.
A motion was also passed to cancel executive council next week for Thanksgiving break.
– chris.w.lee@aggiemail.usu.edu