The student senate meeting on Oct. 31 opened with no issues being voiced during the issues forum.

Instead, former WSUSA student senator Amanda Jones took the podium with Center for Multicultural Excellence Director Michiko Nakashima-Lizarazo to introduce herself in her capacity as the CME’s retention counselor and as the Native American Student Association advisor.

Jones, a recent WSU graduate who served on the student senate for three years, thanked the senate for all they do in discussing the important issues facing the WSU community.

The meeting saw the creation of a diversity committee through a last-minute motion made by LGBTQ student senator Jazmyne Olson. The committee is meant to connect senators who have similar constituencies and deal with similar situations regarding diversity issues and communication with the student senate.

The student senate also welcomed student representatives from WSU’s American Dental Health Association to give the only presentation of the day, a presentation on a funding request.

The funding that would be requested would help cover the costs needed for WSU dental hygiene students to give dental care to patients in need. The care given would prioritize those in the local Ogden-WSU community and would be performed by student dental hygienists on the behalf of WSU.

Alicia Vance, one of the student representatives for WSU’s ADHA student chapter, explained to the student senate that the requested funds will help cover the costs of experiences that dental hygiene students need in order to graduate and become licensed.

“This funding will allow our students to have these essential learning experiences,” said Vance.

Vance explained how this year and last year students had to pay out of pocket to cover the expenses of the care they had to give in order to meet the requirements to graduate and become licensed, this is because student dental hygienists are required to find their own patients to fulfill these requirements. The current amount is unknown and will be further discussed in a future student senate meeting.

The senate meeting also saw the ratification of two student senators to serve on the Student Fee Recommendation Committee. The senators serving on the committee will be tasked with providing a student perspective on how student fees are spent over the course of the academic year.