Posted by Kat Kullman
On Tuesday, Feb. 1, the SGA Senate convened for the first time this semester to view a presentation on a potential new website associated with the college.
Jacques Ward '11 and Senator Dan DeMartini '11 are the creators of the new website, which they brought to Senate for feedback.
The site, called ‘Skrounge.com,' boasts a squirrel as its logo and provides Skidmore students access to deals and offers from local Saratoga merchants.
The available discounts and coupons from the shops are all consolidated onto the one website to help save students money.
"We were missing something on campus life in terms of websites," DeMartini said. "We wanted to enhance your time on campus as a community. The site helps you find the discounts on everything from food and transportation to storage lockers and hotels when your parents visit."
The site will also allow for a message board, which provides an outlet for students to give away or sell belongings at the end of the year.
Local merchants and vendors will be able to buy a spot on the website that will make the coupons available at any point in the semester.
The site will also offer "hot deals," which are discounts that last only for a few hours or for a set number of students.
In order to communicate easily with the site members, the creators are in the process of developing an iPhone application for Skrounge.com.
In order to become a member of the site, a verified Skidmore email address will be required.
The intention is to give the moderators a degree of control and protection and uphold the communal feeling of the site.
The site will also have a social media aspect to it, with a member picture and a message board to help students communicate easily.
Ward and DeMartini said they hope the website is a success at Skidmore because they hope to be able to look for other schools that might be interested in the concept.
"We wanted to start with Skidmore," DeMartini said. "Ultimately, our goal is to move to some other schools with the same sort of tight-knit communities in town settings."
"It's taking all we love in Case Center ads and putting them together in one place," DeMartini said. "We're making it greener." Ward and DeMartini hope to have the website up and running by March of this year.
In other news:
The Senate unanimously approved a supplemental for students from the Asian Cultural Awareness club to attend the East Coast Asian American Student Union Conference.