ASWSU Senators discussed passing the torch to future leaders, a peer-led drug and alcohol committee and mental health resources during their meeting on Wednesday.

ASWSU President Brian Patrick is working on a framework to help newly-elected ASWSU members assimilate. Patrick said there were not many documents passed down from his predecessors about how to run ASWSU when he took office.

As the March ASWSU election approaches, Patrick said he wants to ensure information is effectively passed down to the next president and vice president. They are creating weekly reports to pass on and will educate the new leaders on who they need to contact for different operations and issues.

Estela Navarro, ASWSU deputy director of legislative affairs, gave the Senate a recap of the Jan. 24 event Coug Day at the Capitol, which was held online this year because of COVID-19 concerns.

Navarro said attendees had about 50 meetings with Washington state legislators and representatives. They talked about a bill on rural broadband, anti-hazing legislation and an amendment allocating more money for faculty and staff salaries.

However, there was less interest in the event this year because of its online format. To improve the event in the future, Navarro said the next administration should work on better advertising and communicate more with students.

Patrick, Navarro and Vice President Alexander Pan are traveling to Everett for the Student Government Committee this weekend. They will debrief about Coug Day at the Capitol and brainstorm new ideas for the spring semester, Navarro said.

Conner Rath, ASWSU director of health, said he is speaking with Cougar Health Services Health Promotion to create a student- and peer-led committee for drug and alcohol abuse. CHS Health Promotion currently has student committees for mental health, violence prevention and sexual health.

Senator Nikolai Sublett is drafting a proposal to place an emergency contraceptive vending machine outside Cougar Health Services. Sublett said CHS sells emergency contraceptives for $25, and he would like to decrease the price to $10 or $11.

Senator Jacob Martinez said he is working on two resolutions. One includes having WSU Panhellenic offer more mental health resources. The other resolution revolves around CHS offering more psychologists for students.

Martinez said students have come to him about struggling to schedule one-on-one’s with a psychologist.