Controversial Proposals Announced at Student Senate Meeting

Senators Concerned About Meetings Being Broadcast

Students May Have Other Concerns

By Tony Barber and Max Hodgdon

At the February 23rd BSU student senate meeting, two unique proposals were presented. Senators considered the proposal to broadcast senate meetings on cable television as controversial; BSU students may consider the proposal to use student money for an off-campus project to be controversial.

BSU Sustainability Coordinator Erica Bailey-Johnson proposed using $13,000 of student money to benefit an off-campus building owned by the city of Bemidji. “I really think the $13,000 from students would be a turning point about whether or not it happens,” said Bailey-Johnson. Such a proposal may be without precedent, considering this “Green Fee” of $5 per student per semester is designed to “help enhance environmental sustainability at Bemidji State University,” according to the BSU Web site.

Bailey-Johnson explained her desire to install a renewable energy source to help reduce the cost of heating and cooling the Sanford Center. The original proposal was to install a solar photovoltaic system to offset the energy use of the geo-thermal pumps used for the heating system. The Bemidji Sustainability Committee took on the project. The committee of approximately 15 members received $10,000 from the Northwest Minnesota Foundation and $5,000 from the city of Bemidji. They used this money to hire a consultant to do the feasibility study and  regarding possible use of solar energy at the Sanford Center. The consultant wrote a grant proposal as well.

The consultant decided it would cost approximately $260,000 to install the solar power units. Originally the city council saw this proposal as being too expensive and turned it down. After the solar power proposal was turned down by the city it was given financial support by the state. The state offered a $100,000 grant. Also, Parsons Electric located in Minneapolis, Minnesota gave approximately $70,000 as a private investor. Bailey-Johnson also hopes that Otter Tail Power Company will donate money so the project can move forward. Both private investors would be eligible for rebates and tax write offs because of their donation.

The city of Bemidji was very concerned about vandalism to the solar panels. They decided they needed a large fence to protect the solar panels. The fence would cost about $13,000. 

When all is said and done the city would have to pay approximately $20,000 for this project. After that the state gave $100,000 grant to help move the project forward. Bailey-Johnson approached the Vice President of Finance and Administration Bill Maki, to ask him about using the green fee surplus money to help finance the project. Maki explained that BSU receives approximately $14,000 in green fee surplus money. Bailey-Johnson asked for $13,000 of this to help pay for the project.

In other senate business, KBSU proposed taping senate meetings and broadcasting them on the campus television station channel 17. KBSU Student Manager Jon Mercil said he would broadcast the meetings within an hour after their conclusion. “The (university) president and everyone on third floor of Deputy is really into it,” said Mercil. “They really want to see this happen.”

Mercil plans to have four cameras and ten microphones to record the meetings. Mercil also proposed a reserved seating chart to be able to put the senators’ names on screen. Some senators expressed opposition to having their names on screen. Mercil argued that BSU students would actually like to know who is representing them. The idea of putting the senators emails on screen along with their names came up later. Senators seemed more enthused about the idea of having their emails on screen so that students could contact them with questions or comments.

The senators also voiced concerns about low viewer numbers for KBSU and thought that broadcasting meetings was more work than it was worth. They also considered playing the audio portion on the campus radio station, KBSB. Senators considered the radio station a better idea because there is more college students who listen to KBSB more often than they watch KBSU. Mercil’s reason for broadcasting the meetings on KBSU is to get the information out to the campus community as efficiently as possible, and feels that the television station would be a large benefit.

An update on the green fee proposal is that the proposal of $13,000 passed on March 23.

Sustainability Coordinator Erica Bailey-Johnson is taking on the renewable energy project for the Sanford Center
photo by Max Hodgdon 

The student senate talks before their weekly meeting takes place

photo by Tony Barber