Santa Rosa Junior College’s Student Government Assembly approved funding for a new polling service to be implemented at Inter-Club Council meetings, and funding for an upcoming Diwali celebration during their meeting on Sept. 23.
Polling Service
SGA members approved $1,000 from the discretionary budget to purchase a new polling service that will be implemented at upcoming ICC meetings. Poll Everywhere allows users to respond to questions and prompts anonymously from their computers or mobile devices.
The goal of using Poll Everywhere is to reduce the amount of peer pressure in the ICC’s current democratic decision-making process.
Santa Rosa Campus Vice President of Clubs Andrew Simmalaychanh said, “It gives people agency to vote without feeling like eyes are on them, or feeling that there’s pressure to conform to the group.”
Simmalaychanh noted that the service won’t be exclusively for ICC’s use, as SGA and other councils on campus will also have access during the one-year trial program.
Diwali Celebration
SGA approved $750 from the student life budget to support the SRJC Yoga Club’s Diwali celebration on Oct. 24 at the Carole L. Ellis Hall and Auditorium on the Petaluma campus. The funding will cover freshly prepared traditional Indian refreshments for the event.
“Last year we had students heating up frozen samosas and chai and they missed out on a lot of the event,” said SRJC Yoga Club President K.D. McComb. “This year we have the option of having the event be catered with freshly wrapped samosas and traditional Indian Chai. This funding provided by SGA will allow us to do that.”
A Week Without Driving
SGA members heard public comments from SRJC faculty members about participation in the upcoming Week Without Driving challenge, Sept. 30 to Oct. 6. and Sonoma County transportation public vision planning meeting on Oct. 5.
Professor of Biology Abigail Zoger and Sustainability and Energy Manager David Liebman explained the challenge’s objective to highlight the barriers and challenges faced by those without the option to drive. Participants are to abstain from driving for one week, only using alternative modes of transportation.
Sonoma Clean Power will host a meeting from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. to plan for the future of Sonoma County’s public transportation.
