SGA discusses software access, appoints new senators

Sol Garcia | THE RIDER

By the end of September, students should have access to Adobe Creative Cloud through Virtual Labs, said Samantha Aleman, SGA vice president for Edinburg, during the Student Government Association’s meeting Wednesday. 

Virtual Labs allows programs to be run remotely without needing to install the software on personal computers, Carlo Flores, SGA vice president for Brownsville, said.

However, students will need to connect to UTRGV’s Wi-Fi to access Adobe Creative Cloud, said Aleman, who met with IT.

“Even if you’re at the parking lot of the university, you can still get access through the Wi-Fi connection, and … go through the Virtual Labs, and you can get access to Adobe Creative Cloud,” she said. 

SGA also appointed four new senators during the Zoom meeting. 

The newest senators are: studio art senior Jose Lozano, senator for the College of Fine Arts; mechanical engineering senior Jorge Diaz, senator for the College of Engineering and Computer Science; political science senior Roxana Lopez, senator for the College of Liberal Arts; and nursing sophomore Mariana Estevan, senator for the School of Nursing. 

Lozano said he would like to ensure students from the College of Fine Arts are in supportive environments, regardless of circumstances, and for these students to receive more promotion. 

“There should be more promotion going on within the College of Fine Arts for the students that are graduating and their shows,” he said. 

Diaz said he wants to support student involvement and advocate for extracurriculars and undergraduate research. Student involvement is not only necessary for academic success, but also for career success, he said. 

“I wasn’t aware of the fact that we have a lot of undergraduate research in engineering and science,” he said. “I think it would be a great idea for students to be aware that those opportunities exist.”  

Lopez said she would like to help her college, specifically the Edinburg Liberal Arts Building South. To motivate current students, she would like UTRGV graduates to speak to them. Also, she wants to see more equal funding between the colleges. 

“I’d like for funding to be, sort of, equal, so that people wouldn’t be discouraged to do majors … in Liberal Arts and other majors that don’t get the same amount of funding,” she said. 

Estevan would work for better communication between advisors and students and advocate for better medical treatment toward minorities. 

“I would like to bring awareness to, like, different minorities,” she said. “For example, like Black women in patient care, and … as a healthcare worker themselves … they don’t get the equal treatment that they should.” 

There are currently five applications for positions in the judicial branch, pending a decision from the Chief Justice and SGA president. There are another four applications pending a decision for both legislative and executive positions, Flores said in an email to The Rider. 

During the meeting, SGA also approved the fiscal budget for 2021. The fiscal year starts Sept. 1 and ends Aug. 31 of next year. The budget was completed by the executive team, specifically by SGA President Victoria Lozano, reviewed and approved by the Internal Affairs Committee and brought to the Senate for final approval, Senate Chair Yahia Al-Qudah said. 

This year, a category has been removed from the budget: education. The category had no description, and it was unaware what it was used for. As a result, the president, with the advice from the advisory council, decided to remove it, said Flores.

“It was determined to be best just, you know, not keep it within the budget because … it wasn’t allocated towards anything,” he said. “It was a line item that did not have a purpose.”  

SGA encourages students to fill out a Student Concern Form if they have a specific concern within the university. It can be found on SGA’s VLink page at https://utrgv.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/sga