The Student Senate welcomed the new Class of 2012 senators at its meeting on Monday.
Winning seats on the Senate in the freshman election were Joseph Fahey, Alexandra Lynn McGregor, Lee Sharma, and Joe Young.
Grand Marshal Kara Chesal ’09 started off the meeting noting that Judicial Board selection was going to hopefully be completed within the next couple of weeks. She also mentioned that she had met to discuss the Electronic Citizenship Policy with editors from publications on campus and members of the Senate.
First on the schedule for the Senate was the confirmation of Senator Michael Zwack ’11 for Student Government Representative to the Registrar Scheduling Committee. Zwack was confirmed in a 16-0-2 vote.
Following the confirmation, the Senate greeted the new GM Week Committee Chair Courtney Sawicki ’10, who was joined by Former Chair Elizabeth Frank ’09. Sawicki and Frank gave an update on where they are in planning this year’s GM Week festivities. Sawicki said the theme for GM Week will most likely be focusing on bringing back traditions from the Institute’s heyday.
The Inter-Fraternity Council is mainly focusing on the sophomore housing issue. Representative Jonathan Babiec ’09 stated that the IFC will be meeting with Vice President for Student Life Eddie Ade Knowles on October 1 to discuss the Student Life Initiatives.
The Academic Affairs Committee, chaired by Bianca Zongrone ’10, is putting most of its efforts into developing an Honor Code, rather than spending time on the Teaching Assistant issue. The committee will be discussing the Honor Code with Associate Dean of Students Paul Meyer, in addition to how group work and i-Clickers contribute to cheating on campus.
Senator William Jones ’11 and the rest of the Community Relations Committee are continuing to work on off-campus RAD, which they hope to have implemented when the Best Western is completed for Fall 2009. There are also plans underway to make an online card office website so students can add money to their RAD cards when the office is closed over the weekends. Finally, the committee is working on trying to bring a farmer’s market to campus one weekend of the month, encouraging students to get involved in downtown life.
The Student Sustainability Task Force is looking into testing a green roof on campus, which could serve to grow food for the Terra Café.
Finally, the Student Life Committee is in the process of drafting an opinion regarding the smoking policy around the Union and the sale of cigarettes in Father’s. Chair Andrew Neidhardt ’11 will be presenting the Committee’s opinion at tonight’s Executive Board meeting.
