Lida Zakurdaew / Sun Star
Incoming Vice President Colby Freel believes that the time has come to give back to the students the student government fee we pay each semester.
Every semester students pay a $42 student government fee. The proceeds are allocated to any number of projects during the school year. However, not all funds end up being spent. Thus, ASUAF ends up with an account full of leftover funds, which at this point is valued at just under $200,000, according to ASUAF adviser and office manager Anne Williamson.
Freel would like to put more of these rollover funds to use for the benefit of UAF students by focusing on giving more funding to student clubs and student travel expenses. The Vice President will also be devoting much of the semester toward restructuring the Club Council in an effort to promote equal representation of all UAF clubs.
Leading up to the start of this semester, ASUAF’s Summer Senate, consisting of Cordero Reid, Lyssi Garcia, Eli Barry-Garland, Jessica McLaughlin and Fern Spaulding, met weekly throughout the summer break to tie up loose ends from the spring and get a head start on the fall. The Summer Senate allocated $2,000 to a group of students from the English Majors Union for the purpose of traveling to California to present their project on symbolism in comics at Comic Con.
The Summer Senate also used $1,500 to update the computers in the ASUAF office in the Wood Center. These computers, as well as the printer and fax machine, are available for student use free of charge whenever the office is open. The former office of the student body president has also been under renovation and will soon be available for students to use for video conferences.
The first senate meeting of the semester will be held at 4pm on Sept. 6 in the Wood Center Conference Room C/D. ASUAF meetings are open to all students and UAF community members.