Student Government Association discussed meeting attendance, problems with lights and crosswalks on campus and the education program’s Macintosh laptop requirement in its first meeting of the year on Wednesday.
Emphasis was placed on finding new members to fill empty chairs, but Vice President Chris Kurtz said attendance was actually better than it has been in previous years.
Many halls have not yet voted on their representatives so the on-campus chairs were half empty.
Out of the 17 off-campus chairs, 12 were filled, as well as all 10 of the at-large positions.
The number of freshman interested in student government is also up this year, Kurtz said. Six applications have been turned in already, and if the interest keeps up, this could be the first time in four or five years that all freshman positions are filled.
“It’s a good start for them to be there from the beginning. Then some of them can step up in their later years,” he said.
Although several committees had no reports, others brought up issues from last year still being worked on, as well as new concerns and ideas for this year.
The Student Safety Committee discussed some of the problems with crosswalk signals, including broken buttons and reinstating the signal in front of the L.A. Pittenger Student Center. The group also brought up the lack of lighting between Woodworth Complex and John R. Emens Auditorium parking garage.
“The light issue with Woodworth affects everyone’s safety. There’s lots of traffic through there. It’s sort of a shortcut for students to go to Stu East,” Eean Bailey, representative from Knotts/Edwards Halls, said.
The Academic Affairs Committee began the year by finishing up legislation from last April.
Alyssa Ridenour, director of Academic Affairs, said the committee’s two main projects are working with the Teachers College to improve the digital portfolio program and to make INQSIT testing more user-friendly.
“The problem is the Teachers College has set their whole curriculum around the portfolio, and then people go get jobs and no one looks at it,” Ridenour said.
She said the committee is trying to get the program to allow students to use other computers than Macintosh Laptops so they can choose the best computer for their personal needs.
Other announcements included news that the Emens parking garage will now be open until 3 a.m. to coincide with last year’s new library hours.
SGA is also planning to reorganize the executive level of the association in the next few weeks. Part of the current party’s platform was to rewrite the student bylaws, which included reworking executive duties and titles.
“We will be able to better carry out the executive function. It will be more efficient with communicating with the student body at large and media in particular. It’s going to be a pretty extensive change to the executive branch,” President Steve Geraci said.
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