By Paul TakahashiThe Daily Northwestern
Senators voted down a bill that called for university administrators to “eradicate all maps or provide alternatives such as globes” at Northwestern during Wednesday’s ASG meeting.
The bill, dubbed “North not equal to Up,” was presented to Associated Student Government at last week’s meeting by Weinberg senior Todd Lewis.
“Mercator projection maps flatten and distort the earth’s surface,” Lewis said. “We need a paradigm shift and the shift is to the globe. If everyone had a globe, the world would be a more harmonious place.”
Lewis’ bill called upon ASG’s Executive Board to lobby the administration to inform students of maps’ distortions and use maps with south at the top and north at the bottom.
The bill also called for the administration to furnish each undergraduate student with a globe.
Although Lewis said the bill was a serious matter, many senators seemed to view his bill as a joke, chuckling as he stepped down from the lectern. A number of senators spoke out against the bill; one called it “ludicrous.”
Academic Vice President Anna Xu urged senators to think about the implications of discussing this bill in Senate.
“Although there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with the bill, we should evaluate whether this is the type of thing Senate is supposed to regulate,” the McCormick junior said.
The bill passed through her committee, the Academic Committee, by a 2-1 margin.
“ASG has a precarious position on campus,” said ISBE Senator Grace Adamson, a Weinberg freshman. “We need to think about our reputation. We will be made fun of if we pass this.
“Northwestern students are smart enough to know that maps are distortions.”
Weinberg sophomore and College Republications Senator Will Upton urged senators to abstain from voting on the bill to demonstrate that ASG will not tolerate “stupid bills.”
“This bill is a waste of time when there are far more pertinent things to be addressing, like off-campus security,” Upton said.
Most senators chose to heed Upton’s request.
Lewis said he was disappointed by the outcome of his bill, arguing that ASG failed to uphold its motto, “Students First,” and NU’s motto, “Whatsoever things are true,” by voting against the bill.
“The bill failed without being talked about,” he said.
Senators also passed senator election guidelines at Wednesday’s meeting. ASG made no changes to the guidelines, which will be followed when each dorm elects senators during Fall Quarter.
Toward the end of the meeting, Weinberg junior Eric Parker introduced a bill that would change ASG’s attribution on student groups’ fliers and electronic publications from “Funded by SAF” to “Funded by ASG.”
SAF stands for Student Activity Fee, which is the $126 annual fee all students pay that funds student groups. Parker said this change will increase awareness about student government.
Reach Paul Takahashi at [email protected].
