SGA columns: 9/18/25 & 9/25/25

SGA 9/18 COLUMN

• Concerns were raised about allergens and cross contamination at Oasis by a student– once the Dining Services Committee starts to meet we’ll have more information, but for now, according to Oasis staff and Student Accessibility Services, Oasis is not an allergy-rated kitchen and students with allergies should use Harris and JA instead.
• If you find any critters in your dorm such as roaches or other insects, please put in a work order and include a picture of the insect so they can treat the infestation correctly! If you have anything larger than that, such as bats, rats, or other creatures, please call Campus Safety to remove it.
• The same policy goes for vomit and other biohazards– please call Campus Safety, emergency janitorial services are available.
• We voted everyone from General Assembly into committees… I’ll spare you guys the details! But… Student Activities Council meetings are open to all, on Mondays at 4:15 in Cro 224. The Environmental Model Committee and the Facilities and Land Management Committee have merged, and meet on Fridays at 9:30. Reach out to Elaine Sandoval, Chair of Sustainability, with questions.
• Nic Sanfilippo, Chair of Academic Affairs (and our layout editor!), gave us a presentation from the Registrar on proposed changes to the final exam period, and self-scheduled exams. The currently-operating system of having Blaustein and the ARC both open all day requires paying a lot of staff overtime, while they found that comparatively few students were making use of the final ‘nighttime’ block of exams. This proposed new system would pilot open drop-in hours, and rely on the Honor Code to make sure students finish their exams within the three-hour limit. Some concerns brought up by General Assembly included making sure they clarified the open hours day-to-day to avoid confusion, especially when they closed, and figuring out how to provide ‘final-entry’ times so that students could be prepared to finish their exams before Blaustein closes. More updates will come.
• Educational Planning Committee, EPC, has been discussing with faculty how to restructure the First Year Seminar’s advising system and requirements. If you have any feedback about your advising experience, your FYS scheduling experience, and with writing requirements, please reach out to Nicole Sanfilippo, Chair of Academic Affairs.

SGA 9/25 COLUMN

• Elaine Sandoval, Chair of Sustainability, and Jules Friday with Student Accessibility Services gave a presentation on a proposed resolution to reform the Sustainability straw purposes, in reforming the previous eco-ableist guidelines and rhetoric. This would make straws accessible on campus– not just behind the counter, which is an access barrier, but instead out in the open with signage from Sustainability encouraging students to not use the straws if they don’t need them.
• Aleks Eikinas, Chair of Equity and Inclusion, presented a new proposed resolution on Universal Accessible Design, which would give instructions on how to make posters, social media posts, and club events accessible, and provide this information to club leadership. This includes using accessible fonts and colors, providing accurate captions and content warnings, and hosting events in accessible spaces, including moving events in cases of elevators breaking and similar events. Accessible events would also include detailed ingredient lists for any food served, and would promote using voice amplification for large events or events in large spaces. After two violations, clubs would lose their SGA funding for the rest of the year, as decided by the DEI Chair on a case-by-case basis.
• Student Activities Council (SAC) meetings are open to all, and are on Mondays at 4:15 in Cro 224. Fall Ball is on this year, and is happening Oct. 11. There will not be a Halloween dance this year, but SAC is planning other fun Halloween events.
• Camel Madness is on Oct. 13th, anyone is welcome to go watch, it’ll be a pep rally with dodgeball and other events. On Oct. 5, SAAC is hosting a 5k with Special Olympics and Team Impact.
• Reslife gave some guidelines on what constitutes an emergency in terms of calling Campus Safety: if your room is flooding, if your door is broken, if your heat isn’t working in the winter, or if your power is out, please call Campus Safety. If it’s not an emergency, please put in a work order instead. Also: heat in the residential halls will not turn on until the second consecutive week of cold weather.
• Please be mindful of what you try to recycle. If it’s any sort of wrapper with food residue on it or anything similar, the recycling will be ruined and won’t be able to be recycled. All blue bins are recycled, regardless of whether or not there’s a paper bag in it. 
• If you’re staying for Fall Break, a form will go out soon that you should fill out. It’s not an approval process, but instead will be used for safety and dining purposes.
• Have you or anyone you know been impacted by campus construction’s effects on accessibility? Please reach out to Aleks Eikinas, Chair of Equity and Inclusion, so the concerns can be brought to facilities and addressed.
• A committee on reforming the house senator system for SGA will begin meeting soon. If you have any feedback or ideas for how a new student representative system could look, please reach out to myself, Theo Andres, Village House Senator, or Maddie McDaniel, SGA Parliamentarian.