The first meeting of the Senate convened in Portland last week at 11 Baxter Blvd. at 7 p.m. This week’s meeting will take place in Gorham at the same time in the Presidential Dining room, which is adjacent to the Brooks Student Center cafeteria. All students are encouraged to attend any and all Student Senate meetings.
The 32nd Student Senate’s first meeting was brisk by past standards, adjourning at 9 p.m. Many of the Senators expressed an interest in keeping the meetings brief, among them Chair Jeremy Collette, who voiced his desire for as much business as possible to be conducted in committees, so the main Senate body need only hold yay-or-nay votes on Thursdays.
Craig Hutchinson, Vice President, Division of Student and University Life, addressed the Senate. The new Bioscience Building in Portland is finished. Work is ongoing at the new parking garage and the top three floors of the Glickman Library. Plans are in the works for a new wing at the John Mitchell Center in Gorham.
The initiative for new apartments at the site of the Marginal Way parking lot has stalled, Hutchinson said, probably indefinitely. The University is still interested in developing more off-campus housing, he said, in whatever form that may eventually take.
Sen. Ben Strout asked Hutchinson what buildings were scheduled to receive upgrades next. Hutchinson said he didn’t have the list with him, but that he knew the Brooks Student Center and Bailey Hall in Gorham topped it.
Hutchinson also talked about the new logo, saying that it was part of USM’s explicit new initiative, namely “to achieve national recognition for local excellence.” He said the logo was developed entirely out of the Division of University Advancement’s operating budget.
Janine Gorham, a spectator, voiced concern over the University’s use of Social Security numbers as student identification numbers. Hutchinson responded, saying that one benefit of the new $10 million PeopleSoft human resource software will be the eventual migration away from student Social Security numbers as ID numbers.
Sen. Ezekiel Kimball informed the senate that he has reserved the Woodbury Campus Center’s auditorium every Monday at 12 p.m. this semester for the purpose of holding Student Senate forums with the student body. The senate has expressed interest in holding such forums in the past.
News Editor John Bronson can be contacted at [email protected]