During their regular senate meeting Monday, the Slippery Rock Student Government Association (SGA) approved up to $13,000 to fund the evening route of the Happy Bus to run for the remainder of this semester and the first half of next semester.
Vice President of Campus Outreach Jared Stanley explained that safety factors were the primary reason why he was pushing for the return of the evening route of the Happy Bus in the winter.
“One of the main reasons why I’m pushing for the Happy Bus in the winter is so that people that are walking from The Grove every day or people who live at The Heights are not walking when it’s -12 degrees outside,” Stanley said.
SGA Business Manager Wendy Leitera said that one of the reasons why the evening route of the Happy Bus disappeared was because the ridership was declining mostly during the spring semester.
Baylee Childress, SGA Vice President of Financial Affairs, also expressed her support behind the idea of reviving the evening route of the Happy Bus.
“I think this is a really good opportunity to kind of see where this can go,” Childress said. “It’s not something that is going to break the bank. It’s soon enough that people still have it in the back of their minds that it was taken away and I think it’s one of those things that they didn’t really realize they had until it was gone. Last winter was so harsh and people were outraged that they didn’t have a bus.”
Vice President of Student Affairs, Vanessa Dufford, was the guest speaker at the meeting. Dufford gave a brief overview of the results of the student life survey that was distributed to students via email.
Dufford said that most students felt unsafe walking through parking lots, waiting at bus stops, and walking around campus at night because of the minimal lights, but also mentioned that a number of students said the emergency blue lights made them feel safe while walking the campus at night as well. She mentioned that SGA is working to put more emergency blue lights throughout campus.
According to Dufford and the student life survey, more students would like to see Bailey Library open longer, especially on the weekends. Students would also like to see more meal swipe options at Rocky’s and Weisenfluh and also more accessibility around campus, such as more ramps and curb cuts.
Larry Brink, SGA alum and a member of the PASSHE Board of Governors, and Linda Gill, retired senior Vice President of Mellon Bank, were elected as new members of the SRSGA Board of Directors. The SRSGA Board of Directors is a committee made up of non-student members who will come together and work side by side with SGA and with the students of Slippery Rock University and will also help SGA make financially sound decisions and offer guidance to SGA when needed.
SGA President, Katie Hill announced that the week of Nov. 9 will be Veterans Week in honor of all the men and women who have safely guarded the honor and citizens of the United States.
The Slippery Rock Tennis Community expressed their concern about the rehabilitation of the tennis courts on campus. They claimed that it makes it hard to practice and play tennis on the courts because of the condition that the courts are in. Brad Kovaleski, SGA advisor, assured the tennis community that although the pace at a college campus isn’t the most expedient, SGA is putting together a group that is helping with the process of the rehabilitation of the tennis courts.
The Law Society was granted $127 to pay for travel costs to Ohio State University and Sarah Arpino was named “liter” of the week for all her participation in the Harvest Fest that took place on Oct. 25.
The next meeting will take place Nov. 17 at 8:45 p.m. in the theater of the Robert M. Smith Student Center.
