The Ohio Union, where the Undergraduate Student Government gathers for it General Assembly meeting. Credit: Meron Desta | Lantern Reporter
The Undergraduate Student Government passed five resolutions during its latest General Assembly meeting aimed at improving dining affordability, winter safety protocols and Black History recognition initiatives.
The general assembly met Wednesday in the Senate Chamber to consider multiple pieces of legislation, all of which passed unanimously.
One of the measures calls for adjusting the $8 swipe to match the meal’s price. The resolution’s sponsor was Sen. Juan Colon, a second-year in finance and political science.
“The goal of this resolution is to improve the dining experience,” Colon said. “The changes we’re asking for [are] to align the $8 swipe value with actual meal pricing.”
Colon said the resolution would help ensure one swipe reliably covers a standard meal, and to reduce situations where students would either have to use dining dollars or another swipe to get a meal.
The Senate also passed two resolutions to establish a specific warmer winter-weather temperature that would trigger remote instruction instead of in-person classes and for comprehensive snow and ice removal across university sidewalks, cross walks and transit stops.
Sen. Adriel Jones, a third-year in nursing, led the temperature resolution. Jones said she had the idea after the university moved classes online Jan. 26-27 after Columbus received about a foot of snow the weekend prior. In-person classes returned on Jan. 28.
According to the National Weather Service, on Jan. 26 and Jan. 27, the highs were 16 and 18, respectively. The high was 12 degrees and the low was -8 on Jan. 28.
“We are in a large university, you can easily be walking for 30 minutes and the chances of getting frostbite are greatly increased,” Jones said.
Sen. Christopher Cade, a third-year in public policy analysis and political science, led the snow removal resolution.
Cade said someone reached out to him, explaining she was in a wheelchair and was having trouble getting to class because of the snow not being cleared yet. The constituent also told Cade that paratransit, which provides transportation for people with disabilities, was also experiencing issues because of the snow.
“We need to make sure that our pathways and our cross spots are clear, especially for our students who are not able to get around as easily,” Cade said.
The Senate also passed a resolution that would recognize National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day which was on Feb. 7.
The resolution was led by Sen. Braxton Glover, a first-year in public affairs and political science.
Braxton said it’s important to recognize these issues, especially during Black History Month.
“This is a community issue,” Glover said. “Out of recent HIV and AIDS diagnoses, about 40 percent of those are from the black population, which is disproportionate to the fact that African Americans only make up 14 percent of the population.”
Glover also led a resolution that designates the third week of February to be Black Queer Week of Remembrance.
“Black History Month is a time to recognize and celebrate and commemorate the achievements of Black individuals,” Glover said. “I believe that in both Black History Month and Pride Month that Black queer individuals are not given the same amount of recognition.”
Glover said this week would honor Black queer individuals that people might not know, like Audre Lorde and Bayard Rustin. The resolution would also allow USG to host an event related to Black Queer Week of Remembrance.
