By: Jon P. Dusza and Ava C. Green
The meeting was gaveled into session at 2:33 p.m. and began with a discussion of parking during the general student concerns portion of the meeting. Speaker Apps brought up that at the parking lot in front of Village and Lyons Hall, students were being ticketed when they should not have been. While in the past, that parking lot has been reserved for people going to the Admissions office, it is not so anymore, as the Admissions office is no longer located in Lyons Hall. So, that parking lot is now available to residents of Village. The fact that Village residents were being ticketed for parking there is naturally a concern. Apps also brought up people being ticketed in Science Hall after 5 p.m., a time when people are not supposed to be ticketed. Executive Vice President Deglopper added that residential students are getting ticketed when they park at the Spillman lot. While that lot is for commuters, Deglopper argued that it would be helpful for it to be open to residents, since the KAC and Health Science are far away from the main campus.
Also during student concerns, Public Health Committee Chair and Library Liaison Riley talked about the upcoming changes to the second floor of the library (reported in more depth in the Sept. 13 issue of The Griffin). Riley said that out of the 90,000 books held in the library, the library could lose 50,000 of them if the second floor comes out of use. Losing the second floor of the library would also mean losing the quiet floor of the library. According to Riley, and The Griffin’s Sept. 13 article on the library, the library itself does not have information on the changes, including whether or not the entire second floor will be lost, or just a portion, or not at all. So, there still remains a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the fate of the library’s second floor.
The next order of business after general student concerns were executive reports. President Sanders began by discussing the conversation he had with Dr. Fields about expanding late-night dining options at Canisius. Extending the Dining Hall hours would be more difficult than originally thought, as it would be very expensive. So, Sanders said his new idea is to look into expanding the Market’s hours. Sanders also discussed the formation of a new Campus Safety Committee, which is asking for six male students and six female students to apply. That group would be narrowed down to one male and one female student, both of whom would serve on the Committee. Anybody, not just senators, can contact Tim Sanders or Dr. Harold Fields to apply for the Committee if interested.
After EVP Deglopper introduced new Diversity Committee Chair Leah Akil, and mentioned USA’s need for Dining Hall, Griff Center and ITS liaisons, the executive report part of the meeting passed without much note.
During the structured discussion part of the meeting, USA Advisor Francey highlighted an upcoming election week, taking place during the first week of October, during which students will be able to register to vote and learn about the lesser-known ballot initiatives that will be on the New York ballot this year. For his second order of business, Francey asked for feedback on GriffNet, important because Canisius’ contract with GriffNet is up next year. Senators eagerly expressed some of their concerns with GriffNet. Francey then discussed the prospects of a new program which would take the place of GriffNet, should Canisius decide not to renew their contract. As Francey listed off the features of the potential GriffNet replacement, the senate responded with enthusiasm. Francey used the meeting to gauge how the student body felt about GriffNet, but nothing is set in stone.
The meeting closed out with a spirited open discussion about what to do with the space that used to be Iggy’s. The fact that the space is not ADA-compliant makes it difficult to do anything major with it. The senate also briefly discussed the new pre-law department, and the lack of communication between the department and its students, considering the major changes which the department underwent this year. With that, the senate adjourned at 3:38 p.m. The senate will not meet on Friday, Sept. 27. Its next meeting will be on Friday, Oct. 4.
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