SGA recommends changes

Next year’s parking permits will be smaller, and the new lounge in Walton will be color-coordinated to the Jammin’ Java, thanks in part to the piles of recommendations the SGA recently approved.

As planned with SGA input, the current bookstore will become a maroon-painted lounge. The SGA office will move to the bookstore’s backroom, and Eastern President David Black may move his office back to the current SGA office.

The new lounge will be furnished and painted like the Java, if the recommendation is followed. The SGA’s leftover money at the end of the year will be put toward that furniture.

One of the recommendations, which has not yet been officially acted upon by the administration, deals with resident meal plans. With the new residence hall set to include more apartments, the desire for low-meal dining plans is expected to increase. Ideally, the plan will be available to student teachers and apartment dwellers, with seven meals per week, in order to encourage upperclass students to remain on campus.

One of the recommendations made last semester regards Eastern’s hangtag parking permits. People are supposed to take them off for safety when driving. However, sometimes they forget to put them back on, leading to tickets and mix-ups. As a result of the recommendation, new, smaller hangtags will be used next year.

The SGA’s internal setup has also been changed, as the ambassador positions have been eliminated and class representatives will now take over those responsibilities. Until the change, the representatives had very little responsibility and involvement.

Computing facilities are also a recurring theme in the recommendations. In response to SGA concerns, the computer lab in McInnis Learning Center will open at 7:30 on days when class begins at 8 a.m. Also, more and newer computers in the dorms and the library were recommended.

The April 11 meeting of the SGA did not occur, as the required quorum of senators were not there. Only 8 of the 14 senators attended.

“It was the first time in my three years here,” SGA president Jonathan Ruiz said.