Associated Student Government swore in new McCormick School of Engineering senator Esha Chandra at Wednesday’s meeting.
Chandra said she found out she won the seat, which was left unfilled during the regular election, around 9 p.m. yesterday.
“I think it was super cool seeing how people write legislation,” Chandra said. “I’m a little bit intimidated, but I’m excited to learn more.”
ASG also passed a resolution called “Expanding The Books For ’Cats Program,” which was drafted by Weinberg sophomore and Senator Ivani Phillips. The resolution aims to extend the program for first-generation and low-income students to include humanities-based classes.
Phillips, who became an ASG senator in September, said she talked with other senators familiar with the program before she created her first piece of legislation.
“I am a huge supporter of student education and equity,” Phillips said. “So that’s something I worked on the first week coming into student government because that’s something I wanted to get done.”
Communication senior and Senator Ryan Lien introduced a new piece of legislation, “Resolution for a Mobi-mat on Northwestern Beach,” which proposes installing an accessible pathway to the water at Lincoln Street Beach on north campus.
Lien said he was inspired to create the resolution this summer, when he spent a lot of time at Clark Street Beach, managed by the City of Evanston, which has a Mobi-mat.
“I think it’s the right thing to do to make the beach accessible to students with mobility impairments, as well as any Evanston community members or family members who would also be using the beach,” Lien said.
He said the mat would not cost more than $10,000 and proposed installing it on Ryan Day, a day ASG dedicated to celebrating Shirley Ryan’s (Weinberg ’61) April 16 birthday. Alongside her husband, Pat Ryan, she named and helped fund the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, a research hospital specializing in mobility of patients with stroke, spinal cord injuries and brain injuries in 2016. Both of NU’s major athletic facilities, Welsh-Ryan Arena and the soon-to-be-renovated football stadium, Ryan Field, are named after the family.
Lien also suggested Global Accessibility Awareness Day, May 21, as a potential time to install the mat.
Offering to install the mat himself, Lien also proposed making the installation an event by inviting other ASG senators and the wider campus community to help.
ASG also prepared for the upcoming Funding Senate meeting, Nov. 12, where they will allocate money for student groups.
For new student organizations, Weinberg senior and Speaker of the Senate Kaitlyn Salgado-Alvarez recommended applying to New Student Organization Funding to help “get their club off the ground.”
NSOF allows ASG to allocate a total of $15,000 to student organizations that are less than two years old, Salgado-Alvarez said.
To help prepare new organizations to present in front of the Funding Senate, ASG is offering financial consultations. Senators will help organizations fill out the NSOF application and consult them on how to give their pitch to the senate, Salgado-Alvarez said.
She said an organization’s pitch should communicate how they will use the money in a sustainable way that impacts the most people, is barrier free and contributes to a better NU experience.
“Since these are new student orgs, we want to encourage them and help them understand what the process is going to be,” Salgado-Alvarez said.
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