Associated Student Government Treasurer Nick Kacprowski proposed on Wednesday to cut next year’s budget by about $22,000, which would eliminate the weekend Chicago shuttle service and fund a part-time lawyer for students.
Senators will vote on the budget at next week’s meeting.
Kacprowski, a Weinberg senior, said discontinuing the shuttle service would save ASG about $40,000. He said the buses didn’t run half the time and brought complaints when they did.
“Bus companies are the lowest of the low when it comes to community organizations,” he said. “They are cheats and liars.”
Kacprowski said the lawyer would be available to counsel students 10 hours a week. He said he expects most of the demand for the lawyer to come from off-campus students needing help with housing contracts and leases.
Senators also passed bills supporting improvements to Willie’s Too and reducing rental fees for Norris University Center audiovisual equipment.
They unanimously passed a bill calling for improvements in efficiency and food choice at Willie’s Too after a heated debate about the late-night fate of Willie’s Food Court. Willie’s currently closes at 7:30 p.m., three-and-a-half hours earlier than it closed before Willie’s Too began operating.
Some senators said the bill should ask Willie’s to stay open later until Willie’s Too has improved, but ASG Student Services Vice President Laura Ellis defended the bill, saying it was the best solution for students.
“I’m not a pawn of the administration,” said Ellis, a Weinberg junior. “My conscience wouldn’t have let me write this bill if I didn’t think it was in the best interests of the students.”
The other bill calls for ASG to work with Norris Sound & Sight to lower student-group rental costs of items, such as TV/VCR sets, LCD projectors and wireless microphones.
The Senate also submitted bills that included calling for a 24-hour sexual assault hotline, administrator CTECs and improvements to residential hall damage billing.
ASG President Adam Humann introduced the bill calling for NU administrators to implement a 24-hour sexual assault hotline. Humann said he hopes administrators take existing services such as Counseling and Psychological Services and expand them to include a hotline solely for sexual assault victims.
“This is not something we start from scratch, this is something that would supplement what already exists,” said Humann, a Weinberg senior.
Residential Hall Association President Jada Black submitted a bill calling for NU’s Office of Dorms and Commons to improve the manner in which they charge dorms for damages. The bill calls on administrators to create a fixed-pricing scheme for repairs and replacements, charge for damage done only during the academic year and bill dorm governments in an expedient fashion.
“They usually take about two quarters to charge for damages, and by that time there’s already been a transition to a new dorm government, which doesn’t know what it’s being charged for,” said Black, a Medill sophomore.
Other proposed bills would:
• Create online CTECs for administrators
• Lower the amount of “secrecy” involved in university policy issues and university proceedings
• Create a new schedule that would allow dorm bathrooms to be cleaned on weekends
• Establish a technology advisory committee
• Call upon the U.S. Congress to allow drug offenders to receive financial aid.
