The Boston University Student Union started the new year by addressing changes made by BU administration at the General Assembly meeting Monday night, along with the Union’s own administration change: a new vice president.
The Union voted unanimously for College of Arts and Sciences senior Mikhail Makalski, a Campus Safety Committee member and three-year Residence Hall Association representative of 575 Commonwealth Ave., who President James Sappenfield described as ‘the most senior member of the Student Union.’
‘Makalski has put in the time,’ School of Management senior Richardson Bosquet said during discussions preceding the election. ‘He’s been here a long time, and I think we should confirm him.’
Prior to voting for VP, the Union addressed student questions about New College, a proposed BU honors program, and concerns with the new print quota, which the Union is looking into changing.
University Provost and guest speaker David Campbell began by opening the floor to questions and concerns from students on what the program entails.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
‘ ‘I’m here mostly tonight to listen, to see what questions you have,’ he said. Most questions concerned the new program, that’s still in its developmental stages.
Campbell said New College is an honors program meant to extend beyond academic rigor to the integrating many schools within BU. He said he is excited about the program and hopes its cross-disciplinary nature will attract a wide variety of students.
‘New College is meant to appeal to students who are involved in all the colleges,’ he said.
Some students at the meeting voiced concerns that New College would be detrimental to the CAS Core Curriculum program.
In response, Campbell said New College is not meant to replace Core, but rather to supplement it.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
‘I would say that New College is more rigorous in the sciences and social sciences than the Core has been, but the Core will still exist,’ he said. ‘We’re trying to strengthen it.” ‘
The Union is currently looking into how they can alter the new print quota system by taking into account the systems of other schools.
CAS senior and returning Union member Anant Shukla said he was frustrated by the lack of information that BU distributed about the new system.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
‘ ‘I was like, ‘Is this new?” he said. ‘Someone should tell me about this.” ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘
Shukla said he organized a team with Union members Henry Chen, a CAS junior, and technology committee member John Bavlsik to research how other schools conduct their printing systems in comparison to BU’s new system.
‘We believe this university has the capability to expand all undergraduate printing quotas to 500 pages,’ Shukla said.’
The research is expected to be complete by the end of September and will be presented to BU’s Information Technology vice president, Shukla said.
Sappenfield, a CAS and SMG senior, said Union is doing everything it can to alter the new print quota.
‘When it comes down to it, we should’ve had a stronger student representation six months ago when decisions were being made,’ he said.
Sappenfield said his advice to the student body is to talk to the administration and make their voices heard to avoid future problems.
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