Student Senate held their second meeting of the year on Wednesday, Sept. 4.

To kick off the meeting the Student Senate announced the organizational reports such as recruitment season for the Greek community and all forms for clubs being due Friday, Sept. 6.

This meeting featured two guest speakers from the Society for Collegiate Journalists and the Hines Neural Development Lab.

The Society for Collegiate Journalist (SCJ) was represented by their treasurer, Sydney Mohr.

They requested funds to allow four members to travel to Washington D.C. to attend the National College Media Convention from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2.

“The convention includes over 275 sessions covering all aspects of journalism and media,” Mohr said.  “There will be discussions with journalism industry experts and students get hands-on experience from working through all these different sessions.”

She also said the club would get a chance to branch out and talk with different media experts and get their name out there to make connections with people higher up in their field.

The benefits that would come to Winona State from SCJ attending this conference would be meeting with these experts and bringing that expertise back to Winona State which could help all mass communication areas.

Society for Colligate Journalists is asking for $3,000 for this trip.

The Hines Neural Lab had three representatives present at the meeting. They asked for funds to attend the Society for Neuroscience Conference in Chicago in October.

At this conference they will be presenting three posters to experts all over the world and will be getting feedback on their research. They will also get to interact with these experts.

They will also be able to interact with scientist in their field, and network with potential labs that they would want to work in once they graduate from Winona.

The Hines Neural Lab will be looking at the central nervous system of a zebra fish and the cells that allow humans to move and that are critical for existence.

The Hines Neural Lab team is requesting $1,700 from Senate.

After the guest speakers, Senate moved on to Committee Reports with Student Services.

The Student Services agenda this week was spreading the awareness of mental health throughout campus.

Their goal is to educate people more on the issue and they have already reached out to Active Minds for more information.

The Student Services senator also announced two blood drives, with these drives taking place on Oct. 9 in the SAC and the following drive taking place in November.

President Ben Ellgen reported on the Warrior Cupboard, given the senators an update.

The Warrior Cupboard is located on the first floor of the Integrated Wellness Complex and is a food pantry that is donation based.

The Warrior Cupboard is for people who need extra access to food and other hygiene essentials, and it is free assistance with the swipe of your card and is completely private.

Next was the City Bike Striping Project, which proposed adding bike lanes throughout the city.

For the Treasure’s report, the Student Senate spent less than one percent of the student money.

Both requests from Society for Collegiate Journalists and the Hines Neural Lab have been tabled until next week for further review.