Student Association Senator warns of overcrowding on buses

Student+Association+Senator+warns+of+overcrowding+on+buses

Student Association Senator warns of overcrowding on buses

By Jessie Kern

The Student Association Senate has announced Kelly Wesener Michael, associate vice president of student affairs, will speak at Sunday’s meeting about Maxient.

Wesener Michael will attend the meeting to clarify the issue and entertain questions about Maxient, the software used by the university to collect behavioral compliance reports of students involved in Greek life, athletics and the CHANCE program.

Speaker of the Senate Christine Wang said members of Greek life attended the Jan. 31 University Council meeting and had a productive conversation regarding the use of Maxient.

“It was a very long University Council meeting talking about the issue,” Wang said.

In other reports, Senator Tristan Martin, who serves on the University Services Committee and Mass Transit Committee, said there has been overcrowding on the university transit system.

Martin said students are trying to catch buses closer to their class times because of the cold weather, which has resulted in overcrowded buses. He said the increased amount of riders has caused students to miss the bus because they’re unable to get on.

“Suggest to your constituents to try to go a little bit earlier and catch an earlier bus so that the buses don’t clog up so much,” Martin said.

There was a car accident involving two students that occurred when the driver ran a red light and hit a bus as it was going through a green light, Martin said.

“I believe two students were injured, as well as the bus driver, but they were all released within two hours, so that’s a good thing,” Martin said.

The Senate filled two positions during the meeting. Senator Antonio Johnson was appointed sergeant-at-arms, and Senator Cassandra Kamp was appointed legislative director.

“It takes every one of us to uphold this university to the highest standing possible, that’s why it would be an honor to serve as sergeant-at-arms,” Johnson said.

The Senate also filled an empty senator seat with Clayton Gosnell, junior business administration major. Gosnell said he intends to focus on student safety in light of the continuous safety concerns last semester while serving on the Senate.

“If elected, I hope to be able to enhance the safety and security of students around campus by increased awareness programs, or initiate a public activity log with our campus police to increase information provided to law enforcement when working on cases,” Gosnell said.