The SGA announced it will be addressing student complaints concerning the portion size of food served at the IUS Food Court at its weekly meeting Thursday, Oct. 2.
Flo Gonya, Student Government Association president and general studies senior, said, while conducting an in-class survey, she found a majority of the students polled felt the size of the food is inadequate.
“I paid $2.75 for pepperoni pizza, and, if I wanted to pay another 50 cents, I could have gone down the street to Rich Os to eat a much better product,” Gonya said.
Gonya said the issue was the quantity of food compared to the price, and, while the salad bar and sandwiches have received good reviews, the hot-food line is lacking substance.
To fix the problem, Gonya suggested buying a kitchen scale, weighing food items from the dining commons and comparing them to food items from local restaurants such as McDonalds, Frisch’s and Applebee’s.
“If we find the food weight to be disproportional, we will go to food service coordinator Ernie Giones to negotiate an increase in portion size,” Gonya said.
On a separate issue, the SGA voted unanimously in favor of a bill to become a member of the American Student Government Association.
The bill was written by SGA treasurer and business management sophomore, James Bonsall.
Bonsall said the membership will give the SGA an enhanced network of more than 800 different student governments.
“This will give us the ability to look at the way other colleges handle their bylaws, constitutions and policies, thereby allowing us to select the most effective method of carrying out the duties of a governing body in an effort to help our students,” Bonsall said.
Bonsall said the SGA will also look into ways of boosting student election participation.
“In our last election, we only had 150 voters and our president had zero opposition,” Bonsall said.
“Needless to say, we would like a better turn out,” Bonsall said.
Seuth Chaleunphonh, dean of Student Life, said he was excited that the SGA will now have the ability to work with other SGAs.
The police blotter continues to be an issue since its publication in The Horizon.
Police blotter committee chair Jonathan Moody said that SGA members are no longer able to comment on the legal issues of the police blotter, and they will now only comment on and speak for student opinion concerning the publication of names.
James Bonsall, committee member, said the SGA will take a survey of the student population asking if the students feel publishing names is appropriate.
“If, through our survey, we find that the student population does not think it acceptable to publish the names of parties involved, we will send a report to The Horizon, the IUS police chief and the university administration,” Bonsall said.
Bonsall said the SGA would try to reach a compromise with the three to meet the student’s wishes.
“We don’t want to violate anyone’s freedom of speech, but we do want to make sure the student’s voice is heard and taken into serious consideration,” Bonsall said.
In other SGA news, Richard Young resigned as SGA press secretary.
Kristen Klayko, journalism junior, was voted new press secretary.
Klayko’s responsibilities will be to submit press releases concerning SGA activities, answer questions from local media outlets and The Horizon.
In another bill brought before the SGA by James Bonsall, the position of Technology Officer was created.
The SGA Technology Officer will be responsible for maintaining and updating the SGA Web site.
Robbie Baker was nominated and voted in as Technology Officer.
Probationary SGA members Abrar Syed and Jennifer Broadus were sworn in as student senators.
By MICHAEL MARCELL
Staff Writer
mdmarcel@ius.edu