If a member of the Loyola community who would like to address any questions, comments, concerns or issues, can during a student government town hall meeting in November.
With a large population of new students on campus, the Senate agreed to plan the town hall meeting due to lack of representation on campus. According to Student Government Association Vice President Maria Rossi, “representation last year was not very good.”
“Many of the students do not know who we are,” she said.
In an effort to acquaint the rest of Loyola with members of Congress and increase student government awareness, SGA Director of Public Relations Michael Jackson implemented a project to create SGA badges and shirts. Also, senators were given binders to carry around to committee meetings and around campus to record any constituent issues or resolutions.
Rossi said all these efforts are in the name of helping students.
SGA also wants to hold a town hall meeting in order to give students who have already voiced their concerns a larger stage. Many students have pointed out problems on campus, such as over-crowding in the Orleans Room during serving times.
Natalia Urquiaga, finance senior, said she prefers to eat brunch on the weekends in the Orleans Room because there are fewer people and it is calmer. She attributed part of the overcrowding to the kind of tables that are in the OR.
“(The OR) is nicely designed, but maybe a circle table is not such a great idea,” she said.
The overcrowding even affects the quality of the food, Urquiaga said. She said the food has improved since her freshman year, but because there are so many freshmen and Tulane students eating in the OR, a lot of students get the leftovers.
SGA also said a lack of coverage during the window in Student Health Services and overcrowding on the campus shuttle are two other primary constituent issues that have been a part of everyday conversations with students and SGA meetings since the beginning of the semester.
According to Michael Jackson, the issues are still being sorted out. Other issues include slippery floors in front of the Danna Center and library and the purpose and function of the “One Loyola” room.
Charmaine Jackson can be reached at [email protected]
