<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=41jdcX_0wC3FjDP00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=41jdcX_0wC3FjDP00" width="1763" height="1175" ><figcaption>Student Government Association Senate Speaker Cannon Mitchell (left), Student Body President Aubrey Ruffin and Student Body Vice President Landry Baker said interacting with other Big XII representatives gave them a positive outlook on what OSU's SGA is accomplishing.&nbsp; Courtesy Cannon Mitchell</figcaption></figure>After a 6:45 a.m. departure from Stillwater, six Student Government Association members were off to Iowa. The group visited Iowa State University, which hosted this year’s Big 12 student government meeting over the weekend. With two days of events, the annual meeting allowed SGA representatives from the conference to present, share ideas and collaborate on issues their respective student bodies share. Student Body President Aubrey Ruffin said getting to meet the other universities’ student representatives helped build camaraderie and community. “Sometimes when we're in our own in institutions, we can think that we're the only one struggling, we're the only one facing this problem, but in reality, a lot of people in the conference are going through the same things,” Ruffin said. “So I think it helped (to) not only share ideas and whatnot, but just not feel like you are... alone or that you are dealing with problems in a solo manner.”While at Iowa State, the group delivered a presentation on SGA’s goals, initiatives and achievements from last year. They were also able to compare and contrast notes with other student representatives. Trevor Friesen, an SGA senator, said his main focus for the trip was comparing costs of student fees. After talking with different students, Friesen said he discovered OSU has the lowest fees in the Big 12, but that means OSU lacks amenities that other schools have.“So a school like TCU, a school like Iowa State, might have much higher fees, but in reality, what that means is they don't have to pay to download their transcript,” Friesen said. “They don't have to pay for Scantrons. They don't have to pay for intramurals.”To receive these benefits, Friesen said, students at universities like Baylor or TCU “pay outrageously larger tuition and fees” compared with OSU. Comparisons between SGA budgets at each respective university caught SGA Senate Speaker Cannon Mitchell’s attention while at the conference. OSU’s SGA receives part of the $2.50 per credit hour rate that is charged to students as a fee, according to the Office of the Bursar. In comparison, Mitchell said the University of Kansas charges $500 per semester, Kansas State University charges $484 per semester and TCU is working to raise its fee to $65. Despite SGA operating on a fraction of the budget that other schools have, Mitchell said his group continues to be one of the leaders in the conference. “Some people have millions of dollars, and it doesn't seem like they're doing a whole lot with it, but with our mere $110,000, having people take ideas from us is just, it's really encouraging,” Mitchell said. One of those ideas, Lights on Stillwater, garnered a lot of attention from other schools, Student Body Vice President Landry Baker said. Baker, who was in charge of the OSU and Stillwater community event held in August, said other schools were impressed with the involvement between OSU and the community. “I think what made Lights on Stillwater unique was that the student organizations were there, but it was also community centered, and that it was businesses from the community and nonprofits and other entities from the community who came,” Baker said. “And they liked that because I think they like the idea of having our town and our school merged for one night, for the students to just kind of give it up, like a broad sweep of everything that Stillwater and OSU has to offer in general."Baylor, in particular, expressed interest in holding a similar event in its hometown of Waco, Texas, Baker said. While sharing ideas, OSU’s representatives also gleaned some of their own. Implementing a mobile ID or partnering with the city to run a more extensive bus system are items senators might look into, Mitchell said. But at the end of the day, Mitchell said, making the trip to Ames, Iowa, reaffirmed SGA’s mission. “We're all students. We all care a lot about other students, and we're all trying to make it better for other students,” Mitchell said. “And so getting to actually go and meet more of those students who are fighting the same battles that you are on behalf of their students is really encouraging.”</div></body>

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SGA takes on Iowa State for Big 12 conference

After a 6:45 a.m. departure from Stillwater, six Student Government Association members were off to Iowa. The group visited Iowa State University, which hosted this year’s Big 12 student government meeting over the weekend. With two days of events, the annual meeting allowed SGA representatives from the conference to present, share ideas and collaborate on issues their respective student bodies share.