Around the 16th of October, Student Senate opened a kiosk for the BVU student body to use. The kiosk, at a cost of $1,894.71, was thought of by Student Senate as a place for students to post whatever they wish (within reason) to the rest of the campus.

In an interview with BVU Student Body President, Rosalind Russell, she discussed how the kiosk came to be, how it can be used, what rules are associated with it, and where she sees it going.

According to Russell, “For the last two years, Senators have been discussing having a central place for students to post anything they would like, rather than being restricted by the minimal amount of spaces allocated for posting at our University.”

The kiosk was decided to be the best option and was paid for by different organizations on campus including: Student Senate, Student Affairs, Capture It, BARC, BVBA, SAB, and College of Republicans.

The Senators felt a kiosk would be important/useful to the BVU students because Student Senate has heard students express a need to “…post student related posts, such as ‘selling textbooks’ or ‘need a ride’” outside of social media. Russell discussed how the kiosk is a physical posting location on campus rather than on the internet because “…online avenues for communication lead people to be less interactive in a public setting.”

When asked how the kiosk can be used, Russell made it clear that items posted must follow school conduct. However, posted items do not have to be approved by Student Affairs.

“Senators will remove posts if they see them to be inappropriate,” stated Russell, “Anything involving drugs, or with any offensive statements will be removed immediately.”

The specific rules for the kiosk can be found posted on the kiosk itself as well as below:

1. Posters will not require a stamp from student affairs to post on this kiosk.

2. It is not acceptable to post anything that involves alcohol, drugs, or activities that are not acceptable under our student handbook. If someone chooses to do so, it will be removed immediately.

3. You may post about events, buying & selling, job opportunities, transportation requests, and anything student oriented.

4. This kiosk is managed by Student Senate; if you have any concerns or questions about posting, please contact a member of the executive board: Rosalind Russell, Jacob Staudt, Kathia Puls, Atieno Winnie, and Jacob Braddock.

5. Please remove your posters when the events or activities you are posting about have expired.

With the future in mind, Russell described how she sees the kiosk being used by both BVU students as well as the Storm Lake community.

“Student Senate decided at our meeting on November 9, 2017, that the community will be allowed to post on the kiosk,” stated Russell. “We decided it would be important to include the community in order to get more students out into Storm Lake.”