In the week following spring break, city council talked about infrastructure improvements, and Faculty Senate and Graduate Student Senate spoke about support for international students. Here’s more information on the week’s top stories.
Residents divided over improvements to East State Street during city council meeting
Potential changes to East State Street, which include the addition of a bike lane, a sidewalk on the south side and another turn lane, were popular topics of discussion during Monday’s city council meeting.
The reason for the changes is to reduce congestion and traffic, Andy Stone, city engineer and director of Public Works, said.
“We are trying to support higher volumes as traffic on East State has been increasing over the years and make it safer for everyone,” Stone said.
Residents who spoke at the meeting were divided nearly in half between those who opposed the changes and those who supported them.
Descutner discusses potential guidelines for protests during Faculty Senate
Ohio University interim President David Descutner was present for Monday night’s Faculty Senate meeting, where members passed a resolution commending the Board of Trustees for showing transparency during the recent presidential search.
Descutner also discussed plans for the process of dealing with protests on campus in regard to the students arrested during the Baker Center sit-in in February.
The OU Police Department is collaborating with the Center for Student Legal Services to draft new guidelines that clarify where protests are acceptable on campus.
“These guidelines will soon, once Student Legal Services has a chance to review and we come to an agreement on them, they will go up on websites and we will also create a brochure of this,” Descutner said.
Graduate Student Senate’s new resolution supports rights of international, immigrant students
During Graduate Student Senate’s meeting Tuesday night, members passed a resolution to support international, immigrant and undocumented students’ rights.
The task force will be composed of OU graduate students, including the six GSS members who sponsored the resolution.
Descutner was also present to field questions about how the Office of the President will continue to support international students.
Fatma Jabbari, international affairs commissioner, asked Descutner if international students would be able to have a choice in the health insurance they use, instead of being required to pay for the university’s insurance plan.
“As of now, we only have one option, which is what the university recommends is what we have to get,” Jabbari said. “We are OK with the university assisting us in looking at our health care providers, but at the same time we would like to see a choice.”
