During the South Dakota State University Students’ Association meeting Feb. 14, students were addressed by the International Relations Council, Rabbit Ride and HEROH. The Senate also passed one resolution to recognize February as Black History Month, and SA Sen. Rachel Goldsmith motioned to nominate Chief of Staff Blake Pulse and Government Affairs Chair Anna Shane for SA president and vice president.

IRC:

Tricia Serrao, president of the International Relations Council, or IRC, addressed the Senate Monday about the purpose of IRC and how the organization uses funds allocated to them by the Students’ Association. 

According to Serrao, the club has three goals: to create a home away from home for international students, to present different cultures on campus and give students an opportunity to learn about them and to “bridge the gap” between domestic and international students. 

The IRC is currently planning this year’s International Night, which typically draws about 500 attendees from the SDSU campus and Brookings community. Of the $15,000 IRC receives from the Students’ Association, approximately $8,000 is put toward International Night. Other organizations IRC oversees, including the Bangladeshi Student Association and African Students’ Association, get a cut of the remaining fund to host their own country or region-specific night. 

One of the challenges for putting on International Night this year is the increased cost to purchase and prepare food. In previous years, organization members would order ingredients from Aramark, SDSU’s contracted food supplier and overseer of dining operations, and prepare them on their own. Now, in the post-COVID-19 environment, Aramark requires its employees to prepare the food. This increases the overall cost of International Night, according to Serrao. 

Rabbit Ride:

Mariah Weber, the assistant director at the Wellness Center, spoke about the two-nights-per-week bussing service, Rabbit Ride. The service is primarily for SDSU students, but it’s available to other community members and visitors via the Rabbit Ride phone number. SDSU students can request a ride via the Rabbit Ride app or by calling the phone number. The goal, according to Weber, is to reduce DUIs and vandalisms and to increase overall safety for SDSU students. The service is funded through a yearly grant from the South Dakota Office of Highway Safety. 

The service is available during the academic year on Friday and Saturday nights between 9:00 p.m. and 2:30 a.m.Typically, there are two buses out these nights, but on weekends with large events, a third is often added. 

As the service gains popularity, the university is considering adding a third night of operation—Wednesdays.

Each bus requires a “monitor” to ensure the driver isn’t distracted, Weber said. The monitor helps the driver navigate when needed and is responsible for cleaning up any messes on the bus. Weber said Rabbit Ride is searching for students who would like to work as monitors. The job pays $13 per hour. 

‘This isn’t the job for everyone,” Weber said, adding that if you don’t like to stay up late, get annoyed by drunk people or want to be out partying, “this probably isn’t the job for you.” 

HEROH:

HEROH (Helping Everyone Reach Optimal Health) focuses on four pillars of health, according to club president Regan Carlson in his address to the Senate Monday. The pillars are social and mental health, discouraging alcohol, drug and tobacco use, nutrition and physical activity and sexual health. The club is asking for $1,000 from SA to continue putting on events including trivia nights, supplying food and water for the 5K and to purchase supplies for their end-of-the-semester stress-free days. The club also makes money from care packages they deliver to dorms several times per year. The club delivers about 300 care packages each year.