Wednesday’s Associated Student Government meeting featured the return of Hallosenate in The SOURCE, on the third floor of Norris.
The Hallosenate meeting kicked off with a costume contest featuring an eclectic cast of characters.
Donning wigs as Cosmo and Wanda from “The Fairly OddParents,” Parliamentarian JJ Nabors-Moore and Speaker of the Senate Kaitlyn Salgado-Alvarez tallied votes for the senate’s favorite costume.
McCormick sophomore and Senator Patrick Eleazar took home the prize with his impromptu performative male costume, winning nothing other than a tote bag.
After the contest, senators began voting on a host of new resolutions, starting with a measure to expand free athletic event tickets to non-incarcerated undergraduate NU students in the Northwestern Prison Education Program.
“The only difference is the way they (NPEP students) receive education, but they’re receiving a similar education to what they have now,” Weinberg junior and Senator Brad Sontay-Tzun said.
Many students echoed Sontay-Tzun’s challenges to the current ticketing system.
Communication senior and Senator Ryan Lien, sporting a bomber jacket as Maverick from “Top Gun,” questioned the distinctions made between different NU student programs.
“I’m not too keen on going about, ‘Oh is this, despite it being an undergraduate education, should we consider it as something else?’” Lien said. “At that point should we bar transfer students from going to sporting events? That doesn’t seem very logical.”
Lien went on to re-introduce a resolution for the installation of a Mobi-mat on North Beach, intended to improve wheelchair accessibility on the sand.
The resolution passed with a majority of votes.
Other resolutions included one to resume LGBTQ+ Pride Month-themed lighting at Deering Library in June, after the library’s outdoor lighting was restricted to purple in spring 2024.
Another resolution would encourage each school to allow students one additional excused absence in discussion sections for mental health reasons.
Senators expressed some concerns about that resolution, including the potential burden on professors.
Another new resolution, introduced by Weinberg freshmen and Senators Alexander Hampton and Carridee Raymundo, aimed to counter the University’s removal of festive winter tree lights due to budget cuts.
“During the winter, days will be shorter and darker,” Hampton said. “Sunsets will happen around 4 p.m.”
Both senators connected the lack of lights to seasonal affective disorder, which Hampton said may particularly affect students who are experiencing cold weather for the first time. The senators also said, beyond festivity, additional lighting can be important for pedestrian safety.
This resolution, among the other new ones, are set to be voted on in next Wednesday’s meeting, where senators will also be trained for the upcoming funding senate.
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