This year’s Associated Students of CWU Student Government (ASCWU) officers are welcoming in the new tech generation with a few tools to start recording public meetings.

Recently, the ASCWU approved $650 to buy a laptop and camera to record meetings, an external hard drive to back up memory and a tripod to hold the camera. The funds were taken from Central’s general budget.

Current ASCWU President Ryan Anderson said that, in the past, the ASCWU public relations director hadn’t been involved with meetings.

Anderson said that this year ASCWU has a “really great” public relations director—Forrest McNealley—and so they are trying to make him the hub for campus students to talk to ASCWU, which is one reason for the recent purchases.

Anderson said the laptop is an ASUS and that it’s similar to the one at the Wildcat Shop; it cost $250. He added that it was “cost effective and professional.”

Anderson said that it’s required by law to take minutes from meetings and post them on ASCWU’s website. Minutes are already posted in written form, but Anderson said video would be another component.

The camera is the same one Campus Activities bought, and it’s a Cannon. The tripod was from Amazon and only cost $20.

The camera and tripod were purchased to take photos and videos of ASCWU and post them to their current YouTube channel: ASCWU Student Government.

Currently, the only thing on the ASCWU Student Government YouTube is the ALS ice bucket challenge.

They also want to record the public meetings so that there is no discrepancies on the minutes, Anderson said.

They couldn’t record video until they got the camera, and they couldn’t get a camera until they got the money approved at the Oct. 16 meeting.

The external hard drive was only $50 at Office Depot and was purchased because Washington State public meetings law requires the ASCWU to back up minutes for up to seven years.

There was a crash on the ASCWU computers and they lost information that they were supposed to keep.

Anderson said that every four years, the ASCWU has to spend the money that’s in their budget, no matter what they spend it on. He added that the decision to buy the four items was procedural and an attempt to establish the ASCWU as a professional office space.

“We spent $650 on four things,” said Anderson. “[It was] very, very cost effective.”

Last years’ ASCWU president, Yosef Gamble, said, “I really see it fit.”

He said that it’s the ASCWU’s decision, but that he did consider personally getting a camera for ASCWU.

However, there were other priorities he had to get to before he could do that. Gamble said that their public relations director wasn’t really involved when he was in charge.

He had to take the role of president and advising, so things like cameras and laptops weren’t something he was able to get to when he was in office, but he had considered it.

He thinks that it could be useful to the current ASCWU, to the student body and to the meetings to have a camera to record meetings.