Student Senate met for its weekly meeting in Walter Hall Wednesday evening, discussing business old and new.
Presentations concerning the Bobcat Readership Program, changes to Athens Public Transit and a review of the Student Code of Conduct highlighted the hour-and-a-half long meeting.
Ian Dryburgh, regional marketing manager at USA Today, started the meeting by saying 93,540 newspapers have been picked up at OU from August 27, 2012 to April 5 through the program.
“You’re only being charged for what’s being picked up, not what’s being left behind,” Dryburgh said. “The formula that you have at OU on campus works.”
The average number of newspapers picked up each day were 321 for USA Today, 319 for The New York Times and 76 for The Columbus Dispatch, according to numbers Dryburgh presented.
Changes to the current Athens Public Transit structure were proposed by Michael Lachman, the company’s transportation services manager, at the meeting.
“We’re proposing additions of new service. We’re also proposing changes to routing and rider politics,” Lachman said. “We’re looking to do this at the beginning of next year, late August, if the plan is accepted by the state.”
The new routes would overlap one another and have more centralized bus stops, cutting down on wait times without cutting service. More information on his presentation can be found at athenstransit.org.
Molly Nocheck, director of Students Defending Students, urged Senate to pass a resolution Wednesday that would ask the Office of Community Standards and Responsibility to review the Student Code of Conduct.
Nocheck had complaints with the sanctioning and appeals sections of the code.
A resolution calling for a review of the code passed unanimously.
“This is one of the most important resolutions we will pass this year,” said Drew Hudson, senator-at-large. “These are life-altering events. … Suspension and expulsion are very, very serious. It’s time that we had an opportunity to review this material.”
Another resolution calling for Ohio University to make unofficial transcripts available electronically for free also passed unanimously. The resolution’s sponsors were concerned with the fact students currently have to pay to even their transcript.
Near the close of the meeting, Senate Treasurer Evan Ecos pointed out that senate members won 10 out of 14 awards at the Leadership Gala last week, indicating the difference the body is making across campus.
The balance of the Senate Appropriations Commission was $72,206.78 at the meeting while Senate’s balance was $17,898.78.
dd195710@ohiou.edu
