SGA sets semester priorities
House reps say they expect to meet goals of past semesters

By Jonathan Sampson
Staff Reporter

From researching students’ opinions about a parking garage to implementing off-campus ID card use, the House of Student Representatives has set this semester’s goals.

House Vice President Amy Render presented the objectives during Tuesday’s House meeting with the understanding that while much of the work they will do was started by past administrations, students expect to see results.

“The end of the semester is closer than it seems,” Render said. “We’re going to be getting on the ball.”

Chris Daugherty, a commuter representative who met with administrators in a meeting concerning a parking garage, told representatives that two possible locations for a parking garage include the corner of Stadium Drive and Bellaire Drive and the area behind the Moudy Building. He said administration’s main concerns with a parking garage are aesthetics, vehicle convenience and safety, parking convenience, security and traffic impact.

Daugherty, a junior business major, said he was unsure on the exact timeline for the building.

Special to the Skiff The House of Student Representatives presented its objectives for the semester at a meeting Tuesday.

“It would be speculation to say it would get started in less than two years,” he said.

Commuter Concerns Chairwoman Elizabeth Nichols was unable to be reached for comment on the rest of her committee’s goals.

Other House committee leaders discussed their goals for the semester prior to the meeting.

Chelsea Hudson, Permanent Improvements Committee chairwoman, said her committee would like to work on one large project this semester, but she is unsure what the project will be.

Hudson said her committee has assigned members to areas of campus including residence halls and student services to gather ideas of what students need.

“We want to get a good start on (a large project) and hopefully get it completed by the end of the semester,” she said.

Marcus Kain, University Affairs Committee chairman, said ID-card use off campus, surveillance cameras in campus parking lots and a general follow-up on visitation are his committee’s main concerns.

He said students will not see results from most of his committee’s projects until next semester, but he said he hopes that some of the dining concern actions will happen within a month or two.

Residential Concerns Committee Chairman Cye Fischer said his committee is trying to get caller ID included in the residential services package instead of the current policy of charging individuals for the optional service. He said they are also still looking at expanding the cable television selection on campus.

“The caller ID and cable TV seem pretty doable, but the changes probably won’t happen until the fall,” he said.

Brian Casebolt, Academic Affairs Committee chairman, said the largest goal of his committee is to evaluate the results from last semester’s University Curriculum Requirements forum.

“This semester we’re trying to take that information and ... disseminate it to the different sources,” he said.

Elections and Regulations Committee Chairman John Billingsley said his committee’s first goal is to revise the election code. He said they hope to correct some of the flaws in the code that came up during the last Student Government Association election.

“There’s nothing in the election code about someone running a write-in campaign to win it,” he said.

He said his committee will also work on implementing a new online election format, which would allow students to vote for representatives online.

Finance Committee Chairwoman Deanna Bennett said the budget process for House takes place during the spring semester, so her committee will work on the budget once the individual committees’ budgets are finalized.

Jonathan Sampson
j.m.sampson@student.tcu.edu