The Student Senate held their last meeting of the semester yesterday, marking student body president Pat Hallahan's final Senate meeting before he graduates at the end of the semester.
Hallahan offered final thoughts on the Senate's progress thus far and praised the body for its work. He cited issues such as the proposed women's resource center and the examination of RA training as examples of good responses from the Senate to the needs of the student body.
"I think we have made a lot of progress on some issues ... We have done a lot, I think, to respond to what students need," he said.
Hallahan also praised the Senate for the formation of the Council of Representatives, which is the first step in a large restructuring of the student government. He said that the new council is making progress toward changes and that these changes will be of ultimate importance in the future.
"The biggest thing we did this year ... was creating the Council of Representatives," he said. "The changes out of [the Council of Representatives] are going to be amazing. It's going to be looked at five years from now as a big step for the student government."
Student body vice president Jeremy Lao and chief of staff Emily Chin both expressed their excitement at working in their new positions next semester.
"I'm really looking forward to working with [the Senate] and the whole student government on a totally different level," Lao said.
Lao will become president with Hallahan's graduation, and Chin has been appointed as the new vice president.
Also during the meeting, Pangborn Senator Kaitlyn Redfield reported that the Campus Life Council unanimously passed the Senate's resolution on a proposed women's resource center. The body now must await the response of Father Mark Poorman, vice president for student affairs.
Finally, the Senate unanimously passed a letter to the University Academic Council asking the council to implement a Naval Science minor.
According to the letter, "The study of Naval Science and military studies is a time-honored academic discipline and current Notre Dame students specializing in and successfully mastering this legitimate field of study deserve appropriate academic distinction."
The letter also requested that an investigation be launched into the "feasibility of minor offerings in the fields of Military Science and Aerospace Studies."
In other Senate news:
u Keenan Senator Dan Zenker presented a proposal for more bike racks to be added to the D2 and D6 student parking lots. The main reason for this proposal, according to Zenker, is that students who ride their bikes to the parking lots have limited space to leave the bikes. He said members of the Senate's Committee on Residence Life have met with representatives of NDSP and University Maintenance, who are open to the idea.
"NDSP and maintenance both expressed a need for more bike racks," Zenker said. "They both want it to happen.
u Kate Schlosser, a student representative on the University Academic Council, spoke to the Senate regarding issues on which the Council is currently working. Schlosser spoke mainly on the TCE issue and updated the Senate as to its progress.
"The resolution [the Senate] passed last year is just coming to the forefront," Schlosser said. "We're going to look at the issue and see if we can accommodate the concerns of the faculty and see if we can have some TCE publication that everyone agrees on."
u Lyons Senator Kristy Bolsen informed the Senate that she will be leaving to study abroad next semester, and she introduced her replacement. Sophomore Natasha Mikha will serve out the end of Bolsen's term as Lyons Senator next semester.
u Senators appointed Fisher Senator Sujal Pandya as Senate representative to the Judicial Council. Pandya will serve as liaison between the two bodies as student government elections take place early next semester.
