The North Polk Middle School Student Council attended the Student Government meeting to learn about the operation of a collegiate student government and propose a proclamation.

The Senate also voted to approve funding for the Racquetball Club, the Hockey Pep band, the Peterson Squadron and the Multicultural Greek Council. They will also be voting on three bills that intend to reorganize student debt contracts, regulate cigarettes on Iowa State Campus and impose a time limit of Senate committee reports.

While at the meeting, members of the North Polk Middle School Student Council asked the Senate questions about how they operate and observe how a collegiate student government runs.

The North Polk Middle School Student Council brought a proclamation to the Senate meeting with them, asking that the St. Jude’s Up ‘Til Dawn student organization be honored and thanked for their efforts to raise money for children and families affected by cancer.

The proclamation was unanimously accepted.

Sen. Analese Hauber proposed a bill intended to regulate the use of cigarettes on campus. This bill asks the university, Iowa State police and other relevant enforcement officials to increase the enforcement of university policy on smoking.

The Student Government will also make use of the Green Fund to pay for signage around Lake Laverne, the Iowa State Cross Country Fields, the Friley Arches, the corner of Friley and Welch Avenue, as well as a number of other places on campus to discourage smoking and inform the public of the current laws and policies. The Senate also intends to organize an event to clear used cigarette butts and other litter from the affected areas.

After amendments to include e-cigarettes, additional areas on campus that are affected by the bill, and the language of the bill altered to ‘people’ rather than ‘students’ to include visitors and faculty in the bill, it was passed by unanimous consent.

The Senate also approved four funding requests.

The Peterson Squadron, a group of ROTC students at Iowa State, asked for $71.36 to honor female aviators in the armory’s display cases, as all the aviators currently honored in the display are male.

The request passed with a vote of 28-0-1.

The Racquetball Club requested $1,513.32 to assist in paying the fees required to attend their first tournament on Nov. 3. The funding would be used to cover the registration costs, lodging and transportation for 15 students who are attending the tournament.

The request passed with a vote of 29-0-0.

The Hockey Pep band, the only non-audition band at Iowa State, sought funding of $4,700 to lower the costs of instrument rentals for students playing in the band. Since the Hockey Pep band is not affiliated with the music department, if a student in the pep band cannot bring their own instrument they must rent from an off campus organization, which can be very expensive.

The request passed with a vote of 21-2-5.

The Multicultural Greek Council requested $5,400 to help fund their event “Love Mom and Dad,” an anti-hazing coalition that seeks to bring awareness to the dangers of hazing. The funding will be used to rent out CY Stephens for the event, Sunday.

The request passed with a vote of 28-0-1.

Sen. Anne Miller introduced a bill that would assist student organizations in paying back debts owed to the Student Government. The past legislation allowed organizations to receive help in the form of half of their debt, and the new legislation would cap the funding at $2,000.

This would cut down on the amount of debt contracts that student organizations must submit to the Finance Committee and allow them to pay back their debt more efficiently.

The bill passed with a vote of 23-4-1.

Sen. Jacob Schrader introduced a bill that would limit the time allotted to committee reports and comments from the executive branch. A time limit of no more than five minutes would be imposed on the reports of all committees and comments from the executive branch in order for the meeting to move forward more efficiently.

Sen. Sam Freestone proposed an amendment to the bill, shortening the time limit of the committee reports to a maximum of three minutes. The amendment was accepted.

With the new amendment, the bill passed with a vote of 23-3-2.

Three new bills were read in; these included a bill allowing the Civic Engagement committee vice chair to succeed the Chair, a bill fixing contradicting Finance committee by-laws, and a bill requesting to fund the Latinx Student Initiatives.

For more information or to contact your senator, visit stugov.iastate.edu. The senate meetings are open to the public Wednesday’s at 7 p.m. in the Campanile Room of the Memorial Union.