A week after a petition against the National Conference on Organized Resistance gained attention across campus, Undergraduate Senate Speaker Ben Murray led the Senate in a discussion Sunday about how to deal with the situation. The body decided to wait until the Residence Hall Association meeting Wednesday on NCOR to decide how to proceed.
"The Undergraduate Senate is closely following the discussion on campus and is more than willing to facilitate a discussion," Murray said. "The Undergraduate Senate is interested in holding a productive meeting to ascertain all the facts, not just opinion and emotion."
Murray said the Senate should "wait and see" how a Residence Hall Association meeting scheduled for Wednesday will go.
"But, no one really knows what's going on," Murray said.
Student Government President Ashley Mushnick said "rumors and miscommunication" have caused the current state of concern.
Many of the senators in attendance agreed that eventually the Senate should step in and help facilitate a discussion. However, there were concerns that a forum between NCOR and those against it would further escalate the situation, particularly if a meeting turned into a shouting match.
Murray said confrontation "solves absolutely nothing." He said he believes NCOR should facilitate a discussion itself because the SG should not pass judgment on whether or not NCOR should exist.
"It's obviously been a big discussion," Murray said. "We'll continue with it."
SG Vice President Pat McGill said the senators should discuss this topic with their constituents.
In other SG news, Mushnick presented the Senate with her plans for the spring semester, including improvements of the shuttle program piloted last fall as well as details concerning room draw.
During the fall semester, feedback cards were passed out on buses to gauge whether the new continuous shuttle program had helped passengers. Mushnick said she was pleased to say that most of the feedback was positive, especially as the weather grows colder and shuttles come more quickly.
For this spring's room draw, Mushnick said there will be more options for students. Nebraska Hall will be open for the fall 2007 semester and is arranged in groups of three small single rooms, a hallway, a bathroom, a kitchen and a living room. Because each room is technically a single, Nebraska will be entirely co-ed.
Also for room draw, there will be readily accessible resources regarding off-campus housing. AU is signing a contract with a service to provide students who wish to live off-campus with information about housing.
McGill also presented the Senate with his spring semester plans, which include the Founder's Day Ball in February and plans for Spring Fling sometime in April.
The next Undergraduate Senate meeting, open to the student body, will be held in Kogod 118 next Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
