On Monday, United Student Government’s (USG) legislative body took action to understand Wi-Fi issues, reallocated funds for clubs seeking appeals, and discussed actions to improve relations between USG and other clubs on campus.
Tim Wilson, Assistant Vice President of Information Technology (IT) addressed the legislative body about common Wi-Fi issues students have.
About a year ago, the University underwent a campus wide Wi-Fi revamp which delivered better Wi-Fi to public common areas as well as wireless internet to resident halls and classrooms. Over the past year, IT has worked to address problems regarding poor signals and signal drops.
Wilson cited rogue Internet routers, viruses and other malware on personal devices, thick walls and infrastructure, wireless printers and smart-TVs as lurking Wi-Fi killers.
“I supposed that [signal dropping] to be a case of folks bringing in Wi-Fi signals of their own and attempting to set them up themselves,” Wilson said. “Wireless printers: great devices, but they also broadcast out, and that can cause issues.”
To fix these problems, Wilson urged students to visit the IT Help Desk on the second floor of Thayer Hall.
“Still report any of your issues to our Help Desk because that gets logged so we can see pockets. When we see pockets of this [Wi-Fi issues] we can start to investigate issues,” Wilson said.
After last week’s budget meeting, the Finance Committee presented the legislative body with appeals from several clubs for a larger budget.
“If a club is unhappy with their allocated budget or the amount they receive does not allow them to hold their event, they ask for the additional funds that they need and we try to reallocate the money,” Amber Mole, USG Treasurer said.
The Body Christian Fellowship received an initial budget of $91, but asked for $1,058 additionally to fund a book club, Jubilee conference, and Pittsburgh Conference. After a split decision of the legislative body, of 3-3, and one abstention, Vice President Gabriel Dubin voted to approve the budget.
The Point Park University Rugby Football Club received a budget of $556, but asked for an additional $580 to be added to their budget for transportation shuttles. These shuttles would be for the team as well as fan vans, which would be provided for two of their games — one home and one against rival Carnegie Mellon University. With approval from the legislative body, their budget increased to $1,136.
Following reallocations, Assistant Coordinator of Student Involvement Activities and leadership (SAIL) Kate Shipley addressed the legislative body regarding improving relations with clubs, a goal of USG for this year.
Shipley specified the importance of building a relationship with clubs beyond being just a source of funds by outlining several goals. She hoped that clubs could work with USG and find it to be a resource and outlet for support.
She also discussed transparency regarding USG meetings and decisions as well as working to set an example as a group to “model the ideal.” “These points that she spelled out are very important to her but as well as us. We want to reach out to clubs, and she’s helping us actualize this by having the goals made for us. The end goal is to reach out to student clubs and organizations,” Dubin said.
