The Undergraduate Student Government covered a lengthy agenda during its meeting Wednesday night. Topics discussed included USG bylaws, budget hearings for student organizations, and USG liaisons with student organizations on campus.
Reviewed bylaws for last week included revising the GPA requirement for undergraduate students involved with government. These effects will come into practice next week. A proposed bylaw would require executive board members to be paid a total amount of $500 per semester and will be voted on next week.
Also discussed were compensations for various student organizations. These included reimbursements of $21.56 for the Pistol Club as well as reimbursements for the Women’s Soccer Club, Ski Patrol, and the Roller Hockey Club among other organizations.
Organizations that have attended last week’s meeting included members of the Habitat for Humanity Chapter who were given allocations of $820 from the opportunities fund for their annual Collegiate Challenge. Also in attendance were members from the Department of Visual and Performing Arts who discussed details about the annual Keweenawesome Fest. They represented the band “Electric Six” and spoke in advocacy for their attendance at the festival.
“The event will take place on the 10th of April and will be located in the McCardle Theater,” said one of the representatives. “Normally about 100 people come to these events and we are predicting that about 200 people will be present this time.”
The representatives requested $5000 from the opportunities fund for the event at the Keweenawesome Fest. USG member, Paul Mattson, expressed his thoughts on the proposal. “It gives an opportunity for students to have fun,” he said. “I think it is a good place to invest in.”
The weekly committee reports included hearings from the service, judiciary, elections, public relations, and civil rights committees. The public relations and the elections committee focused much of their attention on the USG elections that will be held next Monday. A topic that brought up interest was the plan for new members in the fall. “There could be a fear of responsibility, masked by a put-on sense of humility and volunteerism,” commented Senior Representative Kyle Thornton.
USG liaison of this week dealt with members from various organizations. The Students for Environmental Sustainability (SFES) discussed their plans for the upcoming Earth Week. They discussed possible movies and speakers as well as a hands-on “herb planting” event that will be used to represent their organization. Others included hearings on International Night, hosted by the International Club, and African Night, brought out by the Parent’s Fund.
The MUB Board also attended to discuss the permission for student organizations to obtain microwaves in their offices and discussed the need for more microwaves in the MUB.
Other topics included granting funds for student organizations who wish to build storage shelters for places such as snowmobiles. One group in particular was the Sledheads; an organization dedicated to those who are interested in snowmobiling. These funds would be used to provide for heat, rent, and electricity among other things.
This week’s main focus was to discuss budgets for student organizations. One member from each student organization was required to attend this meeting in order to receive funding from the Student Activities Fund (SAF). The meeting was held in the MUB Ballroom A at 7:00 p.m. this past Wednesday.

Michigan Poetry Slam competition is this Friday which is sponsored by the Health Options for a Wellness Lifestyle (HOWL), Memorial Union Building (MUB) Board,  and the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE). The event will be open to all and will consist of a variety of poetry forms ranging from spoken word to rap.
According to Google®, the poetry slam was started by a construction worker and poet by the name of Marc Smith between 1984 and 1986.  One of the first influential National Poetry Slam competitions took place in 1990.
The purpose of this event, according to the NSBE, is to raise cultural recognition within the community through art and style by having the opportunity to witness a multitude of performers. Addishiwot Teshome, NSBE publications chair, calls this event  an “opportunity to express your vocal rhymes or just sit back and share in the relaxed yet stimulating atmosphere.”
Contestants will be required to carry out their performances in front of a group of attendees.  Judges will consist of various members within the audience.
The top three contestants chosen will be eligible for cash prizes at the end of the show based on their rank.
Intermittent performances  will also be included within the competition.  These acts will not be judged based on performance.
Previous first place winners include Nicole White,  Lisa Grayson, Crystal Higginbotham, Madie Xiong, and Raj Mohan.  For more information about the winners of the previous poetry slams go to www.doe.mtu.edu.
The competition will be located in the MUB Ballroom and will last from 8:00 p.m.-11:00 p.m. and is free of charge. Competitors must submit their work to seaander@mtu.edu by Dec. 1, 2009. For more information regarding the event, you may contact the MUB Board, NSBE, or HOWL by visiting their websites.
See the Poetry Slam’s official poster on 2A. Poster includes  all the necessary information pertaining to the event.

The Student Activities Comedy Series (SACS) comedian last Saturday had the gift of sharp wit which kept the crowd involved and laughing throughout the entire performance. The comedy of Rob Little (“Don’t let the name fool you, it’s tiny”) touched on many topics such as the differences between men and women and the peculiarities of the Upper Peninsula. Although not quite family-friendly, Little’s comedy stayed within the realm of inoffensive material. There were some crude gestures and motions that would have made the administrators frown, but only produced smiles with his audience that night.
Spontaneity was one of Little’s strong points that really helped him to hit it off with his audience. He had a gift of using hecklers and crowd comments to fuel his comedy. One girl in the audience was used continually as the butt of jokes after Little caught her walking out of the room. He was further encouraged when she talked back and even went on the stage to confront him.
Little continued to poke fun at the crowd, one hall in particular. Little ganged the crowd up against the hall by picking on the quirky traditions possessed by many halls on the Michigan Tech campus. Everyone was a good sport about it, but it was obvious the Tech students enjoyed picking on the hall. Regardless of what was said inside the MUB ballroom, all left in good spirits.
The SACS comedians will appear once a month in the MUB ballroom at 10:00PM unless announced otherwise. All performances are free of charge. Besides the laughs, students who attend can get a chance to win a notoriously comfortable Love Sac chair. The more SACS comedians students see, the better chance of they have of making a Love Sac the showpiece of their dorm room.
Students who are looking for a fun late-night event should not miss the SACS comedians. If you missed Rob Little, don’t worry. The next comedian to appear will be Adam Ace on October 2 (during Family Weekend). Admission for Michigan Tech students will be free. Five more comedians will be visiting Michigan Tech throughout the school year to push boundaries and provide quality late-night entertainment.

With the semester already off to a fast start, first year students and returning Huskies alike can enjoy a favorite campus tradition: Welcome Week. Each fall, during the beginning of the semester, Michigan Tech hosts a weeklong series of events aimed at continuing the fun of Orientation week for first-years and establishing new correspondence between first-years and upperclassmen.

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Money Matters:
Reimbursements:
SAAM- $500 for Men’s Week Speaker.
AIsES- $3,125 for Pow-Wow Expenses.
Audio Engineering Society- $984 for Term lab and dB Drag.
Global City- $350 for Film Board costs.
IVCF- $1117.05 for cooler and conference.
AMA- $800 for Conferences.
Four wheelers- $742.81 for equipment.
BSA- $1550 for MLK and BHM.
TV Production Club- $1000 for camera.

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While most people find it easier and more convenient to donate their money, students at Michigan Tech make sure to set aside some time to dedicate to those in need. For the past three spring semesters, Standathon has helped students take a stance on volunteering and, as of last year, became a student organization. The Standathon is a marathon standing event that raises money for the Bay Cliff Health Camp, which is a summer camp for children and adults with physical disabilities. The event will be 12 hours long, so you can donate as much time as you would like. The event begins at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 3 and ends on the morning of Saturday, April 4 at 7 a.m.

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Kelly Taylor placed second in the Just for Laughs Homegrown Competition this past summer against comedians who have been in the comedy business for more than 10 years. “From the first time stepping on stage it was only nine short months later that Kelly was headlining.” After performing for Just for Laughs, Kelly did a tour of the Canadian Colleges and was named Canadian College Comedian of the year.

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Think twice this week before you throw away a recyclable, because the Students for Environmental Sustainability are out in full force to stress the importance of environmentally-friendly practices. This week is Earth Week and a chance for the SfES to send a green message to Michigan Tech and the community.
According to the SfES, their main purpose is to “serve as a resource organization for environmental sustainability on the MTU campus [and] to raise awareness of environmental sustainability on Michigan Tech’s campus and in the surrounding community.” Each year the SfES puts on several events and activities during Earth Week to educate Tech students and faculty about sustainable practices and the importance of being green.

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I opened the main door at the MUB and was taken away by the smell of food, faint sound of drums and women in bright colored dresses, and for a moment I felt as if I was in a different land altogether. In conjunction with Black History Month, the African Student Association put together African Night this past Saturday for the students and community, an evening filled with food, performances, friends and fun.

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This year the arts festival, sponsored by the Memorial Union Board, promises to be full of wonderful aesthetic treats for everyone. The week began with workshops in the MUB where students got the opportunity to learn how to knit and learn about pinhole photography. The workshops will conclude with a food and wine pairing/tasting today from 5 to 7p.m.

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