The University of Idaho Soil Judging Club brought in eight members to represent them as they introduced bill S26-B03, which pushes for new funding for their club.
“We look at the soil, and we look at the unique characteristics of the soil to see how you can use the soil for development purposes and for agriculture,” said Daniel Middlehoven, a representative of the club during public forum.
Club representatives also explained the importance of the club to their careers and informed the senate of their participation in the National Soil Judging competition last spring, which they won. This victory was the first time that a university from Idaho won this competition. The club previously received funding from ASUI, but club coach Paul Tietz stated that the funding from ASUI has been slowly decreasing since 2021. This bill was sent to the finance committee for review.
During public forum, new director of finance, Zac Knapp, briefly explained his transition to his new role as the director. Towards the end of his January progress report, he stated how he wanted to send a message to the student clubs who are currently waiting for funding from ASUI.
“I want to apologize to students that have been patiently waiting for their reimbursement and to the senators who have been advocating for these clubs. I want to assure all of you that while the traditional methods of getting reimbursements sent out haven’t been as effective as originally planned, I will work towards finding other methods. This I can promise,” said Knapp.
A bill that was introduced in the last meeting, bill S26-B03, allocates $500 towards a winter Engage workshop for club leaders to update the webpage. Engage is the university’s calendar and club information website. Unfortunately, the website continues to lack updates as club leaders learn to use the website. The bill’s funding goes directly for reserving the Administration Auditorium for the event. The bill was written by Senator Charlie Peacock who has been heading the creation of the program.
“I think if Senator Peacock got paid 15 an hour for all of the work she has put into this bill, I think we would already have the $500,” said Sen. Gunner Cavender, the sponsor of the bill.
ASUI Senate meetings are open to the public and are held on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. in the Clearwater-Whitewater room of the ISUB.
Josie Adjanohoun can be reached at [email protected].