Much of the discussion at Wednesday's Student Senate meeting centered around feedback from students on several issues.
Senators attended their dorm council meetings this week to gauge reaction to looking into the language requirement for business students. The discussion during the Senate's meeting was mixed and centered on the already stringent requirements in the College of Business.
Some of the strongest reaction came from students who were business majors within the senate.
"If we want to take a language, we can," said Keenan senator Dan Zenker, "but ... there are already a lot of requirements. There's no need to make it a requirement."
Other senators reflected that the business world is growing more international, and a language requirement would be an asset in the future.
"I think [a language requirement] would be great ... but I don't know how feasible it would be," said Cavanaugh senator Jordan Bongiovanni.
Senators also came to the meeting with their dorms' suggestions on how to renovate the first floor lounge of LaFortune. This was in response to the resolution passed by the Senate last week calling for renovation of the space.
Among the several suggestions were more seating, more comfortable couches or a room similar to the study lounge in the renovated library basement.
Keough senator Chuck Anthony reported that his dorm was concerned the lounge should remain a "prestigious place" for the prospective students and their families who visit the campus.
Finally, in line with their concern for student feedback, senators unanimously approved a resolution for a "Student Union Senate Suggestion Box." The resolution recognized that the Senate has an e-mail account, ndsenate@nd.edu, that is rarely, if ever, used, and it called for "[the e-mail account] to be made available for the student body at large to submit ideas and opinions to the Student Union Senate."
In other Senate news:
u Senators unanimously approved the subject of student body president Jeremy Lao's report to the Board of Trustees, which takes place today. In a letter from Lao to the Senate, Lao said, "... the subject of our report will be to give the Board an update of the progress Student Government has made this semester in regards to creating a new structure, Church in Africa involvement and student responsibility. In addition, we will be previewing our Spring Report on a Student Programming Endowment."
u Elliot Poindexter submitted a letter to the Senate officially informing them of the four candidates for student body president and vice president. The letter mentioned that debates between the tickets will take place on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. in the Hesburgh Library Auditorium, and that the elections will be held Monday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Finally, Poindexter asked in the letter that senators "encourage the members of [their] halls to get involved in the election process."
u Senators unanimously approved Claire Fadel as the Student Union Treasurer for the 2004-05 term. In his letter of nomination, current treasurer Don Norton said Fadel "is an extremely qualified, dedicated and hard-working individual who has the ambition, drive and capacity to successfully serve the Student Union." Fadel served as the Assistant Student Union Treasurer during the 2003-04 term.
