By: ZANE GONZALEZ
Staff Writer
@ZaneGonzo36
The Student Government Association (SGA) heard from Special Olympics representative Buzz Lail, Friday, about partnering to spread the word about an upcoming Polar Plunge in South Bend.
Lail was there to propose the idea of working with SGA to help raise awareness about the Polar Plunge that will be held at Four Winds Field Feb. 24, 2018.
The Polar Plunge is a fundraising event where participants receive donations from business or other entities with the idea that the person will plunge into freezing cold water during the cold month of February.
A lot of Polar Plunges have taken place at lakes or rivers, but the one Lail was discussing with SGA will be at Four Winds Field with the South Bend Cubs.
Lail has partnered with college campuses before and said that whenever he does, those tend to be the more successful plunges. When at Purdue University he raised around $87,000 and with Valparaiso University he raised more than $40,000.
The SGA came to a conclusion that it would be best for students to get involved and decided to form a committee to advertise the Polar Plunge to students and groups around campus. The Polar Plunge will be open to anyone willing to take the plunge and requires a fundraising minimum of $75. Lail also mentioned that there are multiple competitions within the plunge: most money raised, most money raised by a group and best costume.
Also on the agenda for the meeting were funding requests from the Japanese Club, Martial Arts Club, and the Political Science Club.
The Japanese club returned to the SGA this week for a funding request that had been tabled at a previous meeting.
The request was for $2,000, which would go toward having a guest from Japan teach taiko drumming to students during the Japanese Club’s event in April. The money would cover the shipping costs of the performer’s drums as well as her plane ticket to Chicago from Japan.
There was plenty discussion among the SGA on whether or not to pass the request seeing as it is a higher amount. One raised the idea of possibly renting drums for the performer to use instead bringing her own drums with her. The SGA ended up passing a motion with three opposed, for $1,500 which should cover most of the transportation costs for the performer.
The Martial Arts Club asked for reimbursement for materials for their club. They requested $150 and received $191.91 from the SGA to cover the full cost of materials.
Finally, the Political Science Club asked for funding for their travel to the Agents of Innovation conference in April.
The club had already received funding for this before but ended up not using the money due to a cancellation. However, the Political Science Club has found a different date they can now attend and were asking for the money once again to go the conference. The SGA passed a motion to fund the club for $360 to attend the event.
Before ending the meeting, members of the SGA mentioned the possibility of coming up with a survey to send out to students about Sodexo and issues that could be resolved with contractor Andrew Vardell now that the Sodexo committee the SGA has been working with him.
The SGA is scheduled to meet again on Friday, Nov. 17.
