ASG voted against an initiative that would have asked tobacco smokers on campus to move off school grounds before lighting up.
In a roughly 30 minute debate, the ASG senators negotiated a resolution concerning the adoption of a tobacco-free campus task force.
The resolution asked that any smoker on campus move off campus if they are going to smoke.
Some senators against the resolution argued that the resolution would possibly cross the line beyond the Senate's jurisdiction into the personal lives of the community.
Another concern raised by senators was the lack of restrictions or regulations for the task force. District 1 Senator and Weinberg junior Scott Spicer proposed an amendment to the resolution stating, "Be it further resolved, that the taskforce should include students, faculty, staff, and report back to ASG Senate before any new policy is imposed on campus."
Students also raised concerns about the "criminalization" of another drug, saying tobacco users are more likely to be lower wage earners which would further stigmatize these members of our community.
Ross Krasner, a Medill freshman who co-authored the resolution, said, the goal of the resolution is "protecting students that don't smoke from secondhand smoke, but also supporting those that want to quit."
Krasner and his co-author, Weinberg sophomore Alec Blumenthal, emphasized their resolution as being a supportive resolution and not one that would be telling students what they cannot do.
Following the debate, the senators took a vote and the resolution did not pass with a 16-26 vote, with 2 abstentions.
Senators also discussed Northwestern's never-ending Wi-Fi problems at last night's meeting
"We shared Wi-Fi info with NUIT this week, and will be continuing to reach out to NUIT and Student Affairs to improve Wi-Fi on campus so that nobody has to use Guest Northwestern," said McCormick sophomore Serendi Lau, vice president of analytics.
Weinberg junior Riko Ohashi, vice president of academics, said that senators are working on an initiative to have "material costs and type assessments for each class available at the time of registration" to aid students in their decisions and financial obligations.
Additionally, community relations is putting together a Dillo Day initiative. "With Dillo coming up, we are doing recruitment to help clean up after," said Weinberg junior Joji Syed, vice president of community relations, said about their ReNUvation project.