Members from Student Association’s Academic Affairs Committee are working with the College of Arts and Sciences to find a general study space for Arts and Sciences students, the committee announced at Monday night’s SA meeting.

Bonnie Kong, a representative for Arts and Sciences and a member of the Academic Affairs Committee, said students from the college do not have their own designated studying area, such as Food.com in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications or the atrium in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management. Kong and other members of the committee are looking to make the Life Sciences Complex accessible for 24 hours a day as a study space for Arts and Sciences students, she said.

Kong met Friday with John Russell, manager of the Life Sciences Complex and the chairman of the biology research lab, to discuss the possibility of all-night access to the building. Life Sciences currently closes at 10 p.m. Russell said keeping the building open for 24 hours poses some safety concerns, including access to dangerous chemicals as well as the building’s location on Comstock Avenue, which could allow non-students to access the building. The next step is to meet with officers in the Department of Public Safety to further discuss safety concerns, Kong said.

At the meeting, SA members also approved special programming for four student organizations, and David Woody, chair of the Student Engagement Committee, briefly discussed his committee’s town hall-style meetings in residence halls, where students can present their concerns.

The College Republicans, Alpha Phi Alpha, Alpha Phi Omega and Kappa Phi Lambda each requested special programming money, SA Comptroller Jeff Rickert presented. The assembly approved all of the Finance Board’s recommendations, leaving $20,000 in the special programming account. Special programming is used to grant last-minute money to student organizations for events during the semester.

The town hall-style meetings SA attempted to hold last spring have been reinstated, Woody said. These town hall-style meetings are in line with Barnhart’s initial campaign goal of making more students aware of SA and generating greater student feedback. Last semester, the town hall-style meetings did not see much success, and only two were held.

Woody said SA is working with community council, the governing body of residence halls, to organize and advertise the meetings. The first meeting, held at Ernie Davis Hall about two weeks ago, generated about 25 student attendees, he said. The next meeting will be held Tuesday in Brewster-Boland-Brockway Complex.

President Jon Barnhart said he continues to meet with administrators regarding MayFest but is not allowed to make any concrete statements.

“It’s going well and we’re now beyond the planning phase,” he said. “And we’re hammering out the details.”

Published on March 8, 2010 at 12:00 pm