The Undergraduate Student Government approved three new clubs Sunday.

Representatives from the Scuba Club, Special Olympics Club and Flash Mob Club spoke to USG about their clubs’ missions.

Scuba Club to offer on-campus certification

Junior Justin Miller is a certified rescue diver who can train other students for diving certification, which would cost less than half the price of certification at a scuba shop, he said.

Participants would be able to dive weekly in the Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex pool. Miller said he hopes the club will participate in lake cleanups and possibly plan scuba trips.

Flash Mob Club passed, but some dissension

Juniors Erika Jarnes and Katie Peterson are the co-founders of the Flash Mob Club. Last spring, they participated in a spontaneous “High School Musical” number in the cafeteria. Jarnes and Peterson have also organized and participated in freeze mobs to promote other events, such as “Ending the Silence.”

The club would allow students to try a different form of performance, Jarnes said. The group would help promote other clubs’ events for free and plan its own flash mobs. Jarnes and Peterson said they will approve plans with Public Safety before performing.

Some USG members questioned how this club would be different from PULSE. The club also asked for no funding and just wanted recognition. The club was approved, but some council members voted against it.

Special Olympics Club to create awareness about people with special needs

Seniors Addison Farrell and John Busch passed around pictures of themselves with their younger siblings who have Down syndrome. Farrell and Busch are actively involved in the Special Olympics program. They told USG members they want to create awareness of those with special needs by giving students the opportunity to interact with special needs people.

“We live with miracles, and we want to share those miracles,” Farrell said. The club would serve as a liaison between the university and people who want to volunteer with people with special needs, Busch said.

The club would also continue the “Spread the Word to End the Word” event on campus. Busch said he wants to ask all the students in this year’s largest St. Thomas freshman class to participate in the national Special Olympics campaign, which asks people to stop using the “R-word.”

The USG plans for its town hall meeting

USG will host a town hall meeting at 7 p.m Tuesday, Oct. 26, in the John Roach Center auditorium, room 126. The meeting will have a panel of the Big Five presidents (HANA, USG, STAR, SAC and RHA). No administrator or university faculty and staff members will be present at the meeting, USG President Dwight Anderson said.

The town hall meeting will let students to express themselves in a more open forum, Anderson said. The event will be open-microphone and USG will give out prizes, T-shirts and food to attendees.

USG also will host its annual UST Forum Nov. 18, when students address their concerns to a panel of university administrators. Anderson said student turnout for past forums has been very low. Anderson said he hopes the town hall meeting will set an agenda for the forum and encourage more students to come.

Approval of more club allocations, conference and competition funding

USG approved club allocations for clubs that did not file budget requests before the priority deadline. USG declined to give a TommieMedia reporter a list of clubs that were funded.

USG also allocated money for conference and competition requests. USG will cover up to 75 percent of the costs and allocate no more than $1,800 per conference or competition. All clubs receiving funding must submit receipts after the trip.

The Silver Wings Club, an Air Force ROTC group, was allocated $487.50 for its regional conference. The Real Estate Society was allocated $262.50 for a local conference in Minneapolis.