by Brian Asare & Kelly Kennedy, Photography Editor & Staff Writer

Student Government held its most recent meeting in Kelly 5C on Oct. 16 at 12 p.m., where they discussed Manhattan Madness, Hall Council, Safe Halloween, Access Control Policies, Study Rooms, Park Cleanup and E-Board open hours, among other topics.

Social Life Committee

The Vice President for Social Life, Ginamarie Napoli, started off the meeting by discussing what their upcoming involvement in Manhattan Madness will be.

“The only thing I have [for today] is that Manhattan madness is coming up soon so we need volunteers to help bring the shirts to Draddy and then hand them out. If you do help, you will get a shirt, and if you are interested email us.”

Manhattan Madness will be on Tuesday, Oct. 29, at 8 p.m. in Draddy Gymnasium.

Resident Student Association

The Resident Student Association first discussed the new hall councils, which have been fully set up in Jasper and Crystostom halls. These councils are run by residents and are an opportunity for residents to address concerns with the Office of Residence Life.

These hall councils will be finalized and implemented in the other residence halls within the next couple of weeks.

Luke Malpica, Vice President for Residential Affairs, informed students in attendance that the updated access control policy is now posted in accessible areas.

“Some of you may have noticed, the new access control policies have been posted at the Public security desks, so that should clear up any confusion about the new policy,” said Luke Malpica, the Vice President for Residential Affairs.

Education Affairs Committee

Nadia Itani, Vice President for Academic Affairs, had two updates for the assembly.

The first announcement Itani had is that commencement for the class of 2020 is scheduled to be held in Draddy Gymnasium.

In addition to looking towards Spring, Itani and the Educational Affairs Committee is looking ahead to finals week. The EAC is working to keep buildings on campus open during late hours for students to be able to study in. These buildings will hopefully begin to stay open during late hours starting in the middle of the week prior to finals week and throughout finals.

“In terms of finals week, I’m in the process of reserving classrooms in De La Salle and Miguel as study spaces for students during finals week. Those buildings will be open as well as the Library and Smith Auditorium,” said Itani.

Miguel and De La Salle are expected to be open until 2 a.m., while Smith will be open until 11:30 p.m. The library will stay open 24 hours per usual, with the Alumni room on the first floor also being open for students to study in. Kelly Commons and RLC are also expected to be open during late hours during finals, especially for students with lab work in RLC.

Neighborhood Relations Committee

Matt Sweeney, chairman of the Neighborhood Relations Committee, discussed three important topics at the recent meeting.

Sweeney started with a non-NRC concern, sharing that a possible “green fee” will be attached to tuition in upcoming academic years. If imposed, it would be a maximum of an additional $30 fee on tuition each year. The proceeds from this green fee would fund sustainability efforts on campus.

“Dr. Gonzalaz in the school of business, she and her students did some research on a ‘green fee’ that would be attached to your tuition each year and would go towards funding sustainability efforts on campus. She will be doing a presentation on this with the rest of the school of business on October 23,” he said.

Moving on to NRC concerns, Sweeney also discussed the neighborhood cleanup which will be at Dogwood Junction on November 2nd.

“The clean up will be cohosted by WRCM Radio who will be MC-ing the event and working with New York City Parks to bring native planting. This will hopefully reduce erosion as well as improve biodiversity in the area,” said Sweeney.

Sweeney additionally shared that as Andrew Ryan has left MC, there is a search committee for a newVice President of Facilities. Dr. Chasek from the political science department is petitioning for a sustainability representative to be on the search committee.

Miscellaneous Topics

President Kaylyn Atkins reminded students of the upcoming open house that is going to be held next Sunday, Oct. 27 from 12 to 3 p.m. She urged members to volunteer to help out at the open house next Sunday.

Atkins moved on to discuss Safe Halloween, which will take place on Friday, Oct. 25, from 4-6 p.m.. The SGA will have their own room during the event, which will be jungle themed. Atkins encourages students to volunteer and participate.

“We have three times slots that we thought would be good times for both resident and commuter students. The hope with is this that any concerns students have can be addressed with students just stopping by and talking to us.” said Ryan Kwiecinski, Executive Vice President.

Additionally, the executive board shared that the multicultural center will be holding a Trivia Bowl on Nov. 7 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Students can sign up either individually or in groups of three.

The meeting was then adjourned and the minutes were accepted at approximately 12:17 p.m. The next meeting will be on Oct. 30 in Kelly 4B.