By Aaliyah Colon
At the weekly SGA meeting on Nov. 7, Secretary Bridget Green discussed the results of the campus events and merchandising survey she conducted.
The survey was taken by 317 students, which is “a lot more than I had predicted,” said Green.
The survey asked questions such as what type of merchandise students like to get from clubs and organizations, and if students are more likely to attend an event where free merchandise is given away.
The results showed 84 percent of students said they would want T-shirts and 60 percent said they would want water bottles or cups.
Additionally, 73 percent of students answered that they are more likely to go to events where free merchandise is offered.
The survey also asked if students know about the student activities fee and what the money is used for.
“All of the money that we allocate is from that fee that students pay,” Green said. “More than half of the students on campus don’t even know that this money is being spent or that they’re paying for it.”
Fifty-seven percent of students said they did not know what the money from the student activity fee was used for.
It is important to inform students they are funding everything on campus, said Green.
Also during the meeting, members of SUAB gave a presentation about their trip to the National Association of Campus Activities Northeast.
Each member described the events they attended and what they learned at the conference.
The conference had different events, such as showcase, campus activity marketplace and education sessions, said members of SUAB.
Kayleigh MacMaster, president of SUAB, said, “Educational sessions are where we learn information from other schools and professionals to make our campus bigger and better than it already is.”
Annie Nitzsche, SUAB eBoard member, said at the showcase, people with many different talents performed, such as singers, mentalists and magicians.
“They gave us their best performance to see if we wanted them to come to our campus,” she said.
The members of SUAB ended the presentation by thanking SGA for allowing them to go to the conference.
Two new senators were sworn in by Senate Chair Mike O’Brien.
Garrett Fillion was sworn in as a senator for the class of 2019, and Marquis Sims was sworn in as a senator at large.
SGA requested $1,400 for 250 pop sockets to be given away during finals week.
A pop socket is a device that sticks to the back of a phone, phone case or tablet. It has a collapsible accordion that allows it to become a stand for the device.
Green said, “I love merchandise giveaways that are useful, and pop sockets are so hip right now.”
The funding request was approved.
Senator Aurora Sullivan presented the U-Rock award to Vice President Jack Capello.