The Student Senate once again met on April 7 in Westlawn for their biweekly meeting. All senate members were present, as well as two students there to observe. 

To open the meeting, Brian Mast, director of facilities, spoke to questions that have been coming up recently regarding ADA door openers. He reiterated that if there is a problem on campus, students must report the issue to someone in power, such as their RA or others on the ResLife team. 

Members of the senate wondered if the necessity of repairs could be avoided by instituting frequent check-ins and battery replacements, but Mast said that it would be a waste of personnel time, energy efficiency and money to replace the batteries before they were used up. Each door on campus is used in different amounts, so each battery needs to be changed at different times. 

Mast also addressed the question of potentially changing other ADA buttons on campus to match the more efficient versions currently installed in Westlawn; it is virtually impossible to change the buttons on other campus buildings, as they need to be physically wired in differently and the buttons are retrofitted. At the very least, walls all over campus would need to be knocked down. 

In reference to the complaint brought from Monologues regarding their convocation credit from a few weeks ago, the senate affirmed that the convo committee did not act maliciously in not granting the credit, but rather trusted that Monologues was already a well-established event and wanted to provide incentive to attend other bonus convos. 

Four commuter students met with the team that is working on the new commuter lounge so faculty could determine what would be most helpful to commuters. The budget for the new room is $75,000 to $100,000, and the project should be ready to use in the fall. The space is also roughly equivalent to the old lounge, so nothing major should be lost. 

Much of the meeting was spent discussing the upcoming election for new Student Senate members for next year. They planned posters and prepared a Google form for new candidates to fill out. Several suggestions were floated, including electing grade representatives instead of the current positions, or requiring affinity groups to appoint a representative from their leadership to the senate, but in the end, none of them came to fruition.

Voting will be held on reading day and students can vote at Java, Westlawn, the Leaf Raker and the Commuter Lounge at various times throughout the day. 

The Student Senate will hold its next meeting on April 21, at 6 p.m. in the Mark Community Room.