Student Government (SG) committees met for the last session of the Fall semester in order to pass a funding request for free printing and consider possible initiatives to explore next spring.

Budget and Allocations Committee

The Budget and Allocations Committee (BAC) unanimously passed a $21,678 Special Request for the SG free printing program beginning next semester.

According to Chief of Staff Caleb Grantham, 25 free prints will be loaded directly onto every student’s Osprey One Card at a cost of $.08 per copy.

Students can expect to receive the $2 subsidy, pulled from the Activity and Services fees paid by students, at the beginning of next semester.

“This is something that is highly spoken about by students and it is something that we can address without a ton of effort, it does not require a lot of time and students can see the end results,” Grantham said.

The 2015 enrollment figures used to project the full cost for free printing was set at 15,839 students, bringing the total amount needed for the program to $31,678. The remaining $10,000 needed to cover the costs will be pulled from executive branch funds.

According to Grantham, past printing programs experienced varying levels of use by students, as 43% of the print funding allotted for the printing program was refunded to SG in 2012 and 32% was refunded in 2013.

Constitution and Statutes Committee

Members of the Constitution and Statutes Committee (CSC) exchanged ideas on potential initiatives for next spring, including asking the university to impose fines on people caught smoking on campus.

According to the Policies and Procedures of the Smoke-free Campus initiative, the university does not fine those found smoking on campus. But the initiative places the university under voluntary compliance, which means faculty, staff, and students share the responsibility of enforcing the initiative by peer oversight.

While the power to impose fines does not rest with SG, senators talked about possibly drafting a Joint Resolution to show support for the implementation of higher penalties for smoking on campus.

“What fine or actions do you all believe would be appropriate?” Senator Warren Butler asked. “Maybe $50? I think that would get the message across and be reasonable.”

The committee broke for the semester with senators being encouraged to investigate how to approach this topic after the winter break.

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