Members of the Council of Representatives, student government's highest body, assembled Monday in LaFortune to discuss issues ranging from basketball ticket distribution to off-campus representation.
Student body president Jeremy Lao circulated a draft of a letter he will send to assistant athletic director Jim Fraleigh, The letter will call for short- and long-term improvements to allow more students to attend Irish men's basketball games. The draft asks the athletic department to consider creating a secondary market for tickets, allowing them to be freely traded by students. In addition, student leaders want to decrease the number of student season tickets, freeing those seats to be sold to students on a game-by-game basis.
The letter also encourages the development of a program like North Carolina's "Carolina Fever," in which students who attend less popular sporting events can earn points, which may be redeemed for early purchase of basketball tickets.
Lao said the letter reflects the views of leaders from across student government, while putting forth a unified stance.
"This is the letter I'm going to send to Mr. Fraleigh as the voice of the student union," Lao said. Sophomore class president James Leito suggested getting input from leaders of the Leprechaun Legion.
The council also addressed two resolutions dealing with off-campus representation. The first, proposed by off-campus president Sarah Blake, would have changed the student union constitution to put four off-campus senators in the Student Senate. The off-campus population is currently represented by one senator, as is each residence hall on campus.
Blake said off-campus students' interests are frequently ignored by the Senate. "A lot of the issues we have are distinct, but they get swept under the table," she said.
"This is something most people [on the council] agreed with from the beginning of the restructuring," she said.
However, other council members blasted the idea, saying each constituency should have one vote.
"The point of a Senate is not necessarily to be proportionately representative," Judicial Board president Elliot Poindexter said.
Cavanaugh senator Jordan Bongiovanni echoed the sentiment.
"Dillon is twice the size of Carroll, but we don't have two Dillon senators and one Carroll senator," Bongiovanni said.
Some members proposed dividing the South Bend area into quadrants, each represented by an off-campus senator.
"The residential area around Castle Point is different from the residential area around Turtle Creek or Lafayette," Leito said.
In the end, the resolution failed overwhelmingly. Only Blake and off-campus senator Amy Chambers voted in favor.
Another resolution, mandating that off-campus president, senator and programming representative run on separate tickets passed unanimously, after little debate.
In other COR news:
u The council considered an appeal for funds from Best Buddies, a club that promotes awareness of autism and other mental disabilities. The club requested funds in order to bring a speaker to campus during Disability Awareness Week in late March. The issue was twice brought up for debate, after which the council unanimously approved an outlay of $2,000.
u Senior class president Jazmin Garcia said her class council will sponsor a kickoff event for the "Rock the Vote" program on the evening of March 18 at Legends. She said several campus organizations have contributed funding, and she encouraged the other class councils to do the same.
