By Molly Burke
Youngstown State University is halfway through the academic year, and Student Government Association is continuing initiatives from fall and bringing in new ideas for spring.
Jordan Pintar, SGA executive vice president, said student government has several spring goals, including bringing Project DAWN to campus, an opioid overdose prevention program started by the Ohio Department of Health.
DAWN stands for Deaths Avoided With Naloxone, known as Narcan. Pintar said Project DAWN would train students on how to provide Narcan to someone in an emergency.
“We would be looking at getting the nasal spray, so anybody could basically use it. It’s a great way to get students to get trained in first aid and response to dire situations and equipping them with life-saving medication,” Jordan said.
Pintar said SGA will also bring solar-powered tables to the lawn in front of the M60 Parking Lot on Lincoln Avenue.
“That is a very sunny spot down there. So, we are looking to potentially bring some solar-powered tables down to that green spot so that whenever you’re eating … it’s warm outside and you have a little spot to sit,” Pintar said.
SGA hopes to collaborate with the Crochet Club to have a craft fair later in the semester.
“A little craft fair — kind of along the lines of an [organization] fair —would be a great way to kind of reunite the community [and] bring us all together in a little outdoor or indoor space to sell our crafts,” Pintar said.
Reflecting on fall 2023, Pintar said SGA was successful in cleaning up campus and combating food insecurity.
“We had a lot of campus clean ups, which was great,” Pintar said. “We also had our Swipe Out Hunger Week, which was very successful … and we were able to stockpile some money that we raised and are able to use this semester for the Penguin Pantry.”
In addition to hosting Swipe Out Hunger Week, SGA sought to combat food insecurity by starting a student-run garden to provide produce for the Penguin Pantry. Pintar said she is excited to finalize the garden and bring in its hydroponic towers this semester.
“Our big executive thing is finalizing the garden … we’re hoping to really get that moving physically this semester,” Pintar said. “The grant money was being processed over break so that we can actually start to purchase [materials].”
The garden began in the Sandy Simon Greenhouse of Ward Beecher Hall, but Pintar said it will move to the third floor of DeBartolo Hall as part of a larger project to put student resources like the Dean of Students, Counseling Services and the Penguin Pantry in one location.
“Having the Dean of Students over on the third floor — we’re hoping to get the garden in that spot now. So, it’ll actually be with the Penguin Pantry more. What we realized is you actually don’t need light from a greenhouse because the [hydroponic] towers we’re looking at have their own lights,” Pintar said.
According to Pintar, SGA will continue expanding its Aunt Flow initiative, an effort to provide free menstruation products in campus bathrooms. Pintar said expansion was slow in fall, but SGA has added QR codes to dispensers to improve restocking.
“We put stickers on them so that you can scan a QR code, and if they’re out of any products or they’re broken, you just send in a little thing.” Pintar said. “Moving forward, we’re going to be looking at more-sure funding for them. Aunt Flow is something I’d love to have campus wide.”
SGA will hold elections for executive board, representative and academic senator positions in April. Declaration of candidacy forms will be available Feb. 5.
