By STEFANIE HILL

Staff Writer

There is an organization on campus every undergraduate female student belongs to and pays fees to, but few know they are members. The Association for Women Students is an organization that provides service and goods to benefit women students.

Each quarter, female undergraduate students are assessed 50 cents in their fees to fund the AWS.

Linda Griffin, AWS adviser and director of Counseling Services, said the AWS Executive Board, which is responsible for dispersing the funds, is made up of two female representatives from each academic college, two from Student Affairs and two random female applicants.

"The board makes sure the funds are spent wisely," Griffin said. "They make sure the money they disperse to fund a project benefits a large number of the female students."

This year the AWS has provided $600 to help fund additional campus lighting. Jenny Quinnelly, chairperson of AWS and a junior speech communications major, said for safety reasons lights were needed behind Dudley Residence Hall.

"Lots of female students walked that way at night," Quinnelly said. "[AWS] felt this would be a good way to make them feel safer."

Griffin said not only did the AWS help fund the lights around campus, but they also provided funds for the emergency phone boxes and the golf carts used for the police escort services.

The AWS also gives four $200 scholarships to outstanding female students of each classification. At the end of the year, the AWS sends a letter and application to the top 10 percent of women students of every classification to let them know they are qualified for the scholarship.

The board chooses recipients of the scholarships by looking at their GPAs and their level of participation in campus activities.

Quinnelly said she became part of the AWS Executive Board because she wanted to make sure the money was distributed the best way possible to benefit female students.

"I wanted to have a say where the money went and in the ways in which it was used," Quinnelly said. "A lot of organizations make a request for money, and they use this money to make a difference or to better themselves."

Griffin said the AWS is probably one of the best-kept secrets around campus.

"It's not because we, as an administration, want it to be a secret," Griffin said. "We want people to know about [AWS], and [we want] more women to get involved."

Griffin said the AWS meets once a month, and any female student is welcome to attend the meetings. Their next meeting will be April 15 in Keeny Hall, Room 331.

Griffin said the AWS has been around since the 1940s and like the things around it, AWS has changed a lot.

"I think it changes with the changing profile of the female student, but as observations are made that would enhance the quality of life for female students, those observations are brought to the attention of the AWS, and funds are allocated if they are available."

Samantha Welborn, a board member of the AWS and a senior interior design major, said the importance of the AWS is its provision to allow female students a way to be heard.

Welbom said, "It gives female students a say on things that they think are needed to make Tech a safer and better campus."