ASUA senators approved funding for the Student Health Advocacy Committee’s charity race Wednesday night at their weekly meeting.
Two members of SHAC’s executive board presented information on their upcoming 5K run on March 29, and asked the Associated Students of the University of Arizona Senate for $500 to help fund the operational costs of the run.
According to Nisha Patel, a public health junior and the assistant director of SHAC, the proceeds raised at the run will all go to the Tucson Hope Fest. Patel said Tucson Hope Fest benefits 20,000 Tucson residents by providing them with free dental care and haircuts.
“The run also provides an opportunity for students to get involved with an ASUA event while also having a healthy lifestyle,” Patel said.
Patel said that the operational cost of the 5K will be well over $2,000 because the group needs to purchase the runners’ and the volunteers’ T-shirts, as well as a new device for timing the runners; it will also need to print out times to match each runner’s number.
“We thought $500 is a reasonable amount to ask for; we didn’t want to go too high and we didn’t want to go too low,” Patel said. “We thought it was an appropriate amount.”
The senate approved the allocation of funds, and then turned to Danielle Novelly, ASUA executive vice president, to discuss club awards. There are 12 or 13 awards that clubs can nominate themselves or others for, including student organization of the year, outstanding leader of the year, outstanding community service and outstanding social justice.
According to Novelly, the purpose of the awards is to “recognize the awesome clubs that have done things throughout the year, the events and programs they’ve put on and maybe inspire others to do good things, too.”
Club or leader can be nominated through an application on the club’s website.
Finally, the senate took time to recognize Brian Seastone’s appointment to chief of the University of Arizona Police Department. Seastone has served as the senate’s ex officio for over 10 years, according to Novelly.
“He’s a non-voting member of the senate,” Novelly said. “He’s like a senator adviser, and he helps us with procedures and anything that we need help with around campus.”
ASUA President Morgan Abraham, as well as several other senators, expressed their approval of Seastone’s appointment.
“I can’t tell you how unbelievable he’s going to [be doing] this,” Abraham said. “I’ve never been this excited for a hire at the UA before.”
Novelly said that Seastone has been a great resource for ASUA in the past and has proven to be very helpful.
“I think he’s going to be a great chief because he really loves this campus,” Novelly said. “Not only does he care about the police department, but he cares about all the students and all the administration.”
Seastone accepted the well-wishes and praise, and emphasized his desire for UAPD and ASUA work together on campus.
“I want you to bring concerns to us,” Seastone said. “Let’s not let things fester. We want to be true partners in this community and that’s what we’re going to aim for, and I’m very honored to have this position.”
