Associated Student Government kicked off the second half of the semester with a business meeting on Oct. 16.

ASG discussed an upcoming trip for Higher Education days, reserved funds for one organization and recognized three new RSO’s.

ASG will travel to the University of Kansas on Feb. 10 for Higher Education Day. They will be advocating for one of five topics: Restoration of the Higher Education Funding, Lifeline 911 or Medical Amnesty policy, tax-less textbooks, a tax free weekend and sexual assault policies on college campus.

“(The Medical Amnesty Policy) is basically if you are underage in a place at Emporia State University and you and a friend have been drinking and your friend needs medical attention, you can call campus police and you won’t get in trouble for calling, making sure that friend has help,” said Tyler Huddleston, senior Spanish and communications major and ASG president. “So that’s a policy we are looking at Regents system wide.”

A policy change that is being pushed for at the Kansas Board of Regents level is called Receive Non-budgetary Legislative Proposal. Currently, if the university wants to increase tuition in order to renovate buildings, but a majority of the student population says no, the increase can still be made. The new policy says the increase needs approval from student body leadership before any changes can happen.

Instructional Technology Student Association will receive more funds in order to relieve financial burdens for a conference in Jackson, Florida. The group said the trip will be fairly expensive. They have done some fund-raising, but without much luck. The bill passed with 16 affirmative and one abstention.

Bill 15008 Recognition of Circle K International passed with 17 affirmative votes.

“What Circle K is, it’s the largest service organization in the world,” said Lorrin Ochs, junior pre-dentistry major. “We are actually just a branch under the umbrella of Kiwanis International.”

Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity received 14 affirmative votes and two abstentions, making it an RSO.

“We went to the Midwest regional conference this summer to meet with folks from both Ohio and Kansas chapter to talk about things that we would want to do in the future, and that includes things like lobbying in February and just generally creating an awareness among the student body about issues that are relative to sex and gender,” said Barbra Haynes, sophomore biology major and vice president of URGEThe final organization to receive accreditation as an RSO was National Association of Music Educators with 16 affirmative votes.

Newman Kansas Association of Nursing Students is currently undergoing a name change. The nursing school, previously under Newman Regional Health, is now completely under ESU, which brings a need for a new identifier. The new name is Emporia Kansas Association of Nursing Students. The purpose of the organization is to interact with the community and promote health and wellness.