From Monday, Dec. 5 until Thursday, Dec. 8 the Student Government Association (SGA) fought to keep up with student demand for free pencils, scantrons, coffee and Bluebooks during the rush of final exams. After the calm returned, SGA coordinator Rachel Bourgeois reported that the SGA handed out between 8,500 and 10,000 scantrons and Bluebooks to students during the week.
“Scantron Bs and Bluebooks were by far the most common, with scantron J coming in at a close third,” said Bourgeois. “I’m still surprised at how many we gave away. Monday was really rough because it had a lot of big group exams, like English 101. I got to the office around 7 a.m. or 7:15 a.m. and there was already a line”
The SGA purchases their scantrons from the University Bookstore with a departmental discount. In October, the SGA ordered 2000 scantrons and bluebooks to keep on hand for exams, and all were handed out by the first day of finals week.
Jacy Carpenter, senior psychology major and SGA associate chief justice, remembers the rush.
“English 101 wiped out our bluebooks the first day,” said Carpenter. “We used to hand out a few here and there, but SE 101 classes have been promoting SGA services and word gets around after a year.”
The SGA was without scantrons or Bluebooks for about 20-30 minutes on Monday, upsetting some students.
“I guess that when people are used to getting something for free, they don’t want to pay 15 cents for it,” said Carpenter.
Bourgeois pointed out that many of the students were running in at the last minute to get the materials they needed for their exams, which she believes was a contributing factor to the rush.
“Students just aren’t planning ahead like they should,” said Bourgeois. ” We’re well stocked for next semester, but students shouldn’t wait until the last minute, many didn’t know what type of scantron they needed, which took up even more time to figure out. If you need a scantron for finals, please come way before you need it because there will be a line.”
The SGA provides free scantrons, Bluebooks, pencils, coffee and water for all students from their office in the Student Union. In the past, students could only take one scantron or Bluebook per day, but now Students can take five per week to help keep up with demand.
“We realize that some people have two or three tests a week, so this was to help them out,” said Carpenter.
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It was inaccurately stated that SGA offers legal counseling to students. This story was corrected on Dec. 13 to reflect these changes.