Senate Discusses Franchises On Campus

The 54th student senate met for their 12th meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 4 in Student Union (SU) 418.

Student Association (SA) President Josh Simpson opened the meeting with his E-board report that included information about a Park Point survey. Simpson said it was too hard to create an unbiased survey that still represented the facts. Because of this, SA will not send out a survey regarding Park Point.

Simpson said he met with representatives of Sodexo, with whom he discussed Shop24. He also proposed that senate draft a legislation describing SA’s request to reopen Hawk Street Station.

Executive Vice President Manuel Tejada then spoke about his meeting with the transportation committee. He said he is currently working on extending the Loop hours to include weekends.

Vice President of Academic Affairs Jonathan Espinosa said he has been working with student senate candidates on campaigning and reminded senators that elections begin at 8 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 10 and will run until 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 12.

Espinosa announced that library hours will be extended from Dec. 9 until Dec. 19. Instead of closing at 11:30 p.m., the library will now close at 12:30 a.m., and the late-night study room in the College Terrace will close at 8 a.m. instead of 3 a.m.

He said there will be a print quota meeting with the president’s cabinet on Thursday, Dec. 13. The cabinet will respond to student senate’s print quota legislation.

Council of Organizations Chair Rose Faber announced that at the next council meeting on Monday, Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m. in SU 62/63, there will be a ‘Meet the Candidates’ presentation where students running for senate will have the opportunity to explain why they are interested in the position.

Senate Chair Yaritza Diaz introduced Sojourner Truth Library Dean W. Mark Colvson, who spoke about current changes in the library.

Colvson introduced himself and gave a brief summary on what the library has done since renovations were put on hold. He discussed the extension of late night study room hours, and he said the library has been working on trying to increase the number of laptops and iPads available in the library.

Senators discussed concerns regarding topics such as computers in the late night study room, alumni access to academic journals and renting iPads to use in the SU.

Senate reports included updates on having majors printed on diplomas and the Request for Proposals (RFP) that were received from food service companies.

Sen. Roberto LoBianco discussed the fact that the proposals included bringing chain companies like Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Subway and Red Mango onto campus. He asked senators to give their opinions on the subject.

The Student Activities and Union Services (SAUS) flyer resolution was tabled until next week. Senate did not unanimously vote to sponsor the Park Point Statement, in which the purpose is to request that work being done at Park Point follow the sustainability policies of the campus.

The student senate voted to impeach two senators, Lauren Crawford and Kasper Garlicki, based on their attendance and fulfillment of senator responsibilities. Two senators up for impeachment, Lisette Espinal and Kaychell English resigned prior to the meeting.

The next student senate meeting will be Tuesday, Dec. 11 at 9 p.m. in SU 418.