USU hockey team awarded $3,000 for Detriot nationals
One of 16 teams to qualify for a national competition in Detroit, the Utah State University hockey team was awarded $3,000 Tuesday by the Associated Students of USU Executive Council to help them get there.
Shelly Ryan, Education senator and sponsor of the bill, said the total cost of sending the team to Detroit in March is $17,100. Team members already pay dues each year of $550, as the team is a club sport, and pay for much of their own equipment, Ryan said. Financial help for the team has been obtained from companies in the valley, but remaining expenses for the trip would equal $600 per member without help from ASUSUEC.
“Utah State hockey is the third most watched sport at USU,” said Vice President of Business and Finance Ron Godfrey who encouraged the council to support the team. “I will do whatever I can to help.”
The amended bill, which doubled the requested amount of $1,500, was passed unanimously.
The council failed a bill that would have required next year’s officers to spend two of their required 10 office hours outside of their office contacting students withing their constituency on campus.
“We are leaving it open to so many possibilities of how to fulfill it,” said Al Lambert, ASUSU student advocate and proponent of the bill. “We need to get out more and listen to the students.”
Opponents of the bill said they agreed more contact with students is needed, but did not feel mandating two hours of time on a certain part of campus was appropriate.
“It’s a great principle, but the bill is wrong in many aspects,” said Brandon Halford, Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences senator. “I don’t feel it’s ethical to change someone’s charter for them.”
Les Essig, ASUSU president, said he felt the bill was a way to provide officers an incentive to make themselves more available to students, something he said has been very important to this year’s council.
The bill failed by one vote.
First readings two bills were also made at the meeting.
Gabe Carter, ASUSU campus diversity vice president, sponsored a bill requesting $1,549.12 to purchase blue recycling bins that will be placed in each of the 752 on-campus single and graduate apartments.
Jay Price, co-sponsor of the bill and president of ECOS, said 80 percent of waste that comes from USU is recyclable, costing the university both to dispose of it as well as depriving it of the money that recyclable goods can be sold for.
Most of USU’s waste comes from housing, Price said. Two recycling bins would be placed in each apartment, one for mixed paper and another for bottles and cans, Price said.
Each container costs $2.06, and USU Housing has promised to match any contribution toward the purchase of the containers.
Resident Assistants will be vital in organizing the emptying of the bins, Price said, and education will be an important part of the program.
“We hope to create habits in incoming freshman,” Price said.
Carter said the new amount of recycled material will bring in more than $100,000 each year.
A revision of the bike policy was presented to the council and will be voted on next week. While the council does not vote directly on the revisions, its support of the changes can influence support at the executive and administrative level, said Vice President for Student Services Juan Franco.
Lambert, sponsor of the bill, said the new policy opens campus to bikes 24 hours a day but also places restrictions on them that would be more easily enforced than the current policy.
“Pedestrians and bicyclists have always been here and got along fairly well until the old policy was put in place,” said Lt. Shane Sessions, USU Police. Currently there is not enough manpower to enforce the current policy which bans bikes from campus for the majoirity of the day, he said.
“The idea is to increase safety for all,” said Adam Christensen, ORC manager and co-sponsor of the bill.
A separate bill proposing bike lanes on campus will also be presented next week.
-bnelson@cc.usu.edu