The ASG Executive board convened in their first meeting of the quarter Wednesday night, in what was also one of their final meetings together under the existing administration. President Claire Lew, fresh off spring break travels in Hong Kong and South Korea, outlined progress on some of the board’s final projects in anticipation of ASG elections April 13.
Lew described the exec board’s meeting with Northwestern’s Board of Trustees before break as “surprisingly positive,” as they lobbied the New Student Center initiative with a packet of information on costs and logistics for possible moves from Norris University Center. The only major concern trustees raised was the issue of parking should an existing lot be used as the site of a new center, but exec board members were encouraged by the trustees’ response.
At the same meeting, freshman senator David Harris presented ASG’s proposal to add a non-voting student member to the Board of Trustees, and while they did not receive as overwhelmingly positive a response, Lew indicated that the issue would continue to be brought to the trustees.
“These topics are both part of an ongoing conversation,” Lew said, “and I hope to see the incoming administration continue to press the issue before the Board of Trustees.”
The executive board also discussed the following issues:
Vice President of External Relations Ethan Merel expressed concern in his effort to redraft the “three unrelated” ordinance. After consulting several attorneys and law students for advice in the process of rewriting the current legislation, Merel said he hopes to have a completed revision of the so-called “brothel law” by mid-quarter, as it has been difficult to have constructive conversations with Evanston aldermen without a concrete proposal at hand.
Technology Vice President Michael Jan will be charged with maintaining the online polls for ASG elections April 13. In recent years, polling servers have crashed mid-election, and Jan will work with Vice President Hiro Kawashima to prevent such a misstep from occurring this year. Aside from seeking advice from NUIT, they discussed possibly moving to an external server to avoid a crash.
Junior Wilson Funkhouser was elected by ASG senators to serve as the next Speaker of the Senate. Funkhouser, who served as parliamentarian this year, succeeds junior Tyris Jones at the post.
Lew announced plans for a visit of more than 120 Chicago Public Schools students from EPIC Academy to campus next Wednesday, April 6. She described it as an “amazing opportunity to encourage inclusivity and minority enrollment” at NU, and any interested students are encouraged to apply to serve as a mentor for the student visitors.