Addressing the well-attended second general body meeting of Duke Student Government Wednesday night, President Nan Keohane opened the session by saying that she wanted to cut down on costly bureaucracy, recruit more faculty members and get to work on the most important fund-raising initiative at the University, the Capital Campaign.
Keohane, who said she will work with Executive Vice President Tallman Trask on revising certain bureaucratic processes, noted that a review of the University's purchasing policies was in order "so we don't have a policy where we spend $20 on a box of pencils because of all the forms that had to be filled out."
Referring to the Capital Campaign, currently in its silent phase, Keohane said she will soon be traveling around the country to speak to alumni groups and to solicit funds.
Listing another of her objectives, Keohane said she intends to turn her attention to upperclass residential life. "It is my impression that the housing of all first-year students on East Campus has been a success," she said. "Now we must focus on the upperclass system."
The president said the current residential quad system for West Campus and the future of North Campus' Trent Dormitory are two issues she and other administrators might revisit.
After her presentation, Keohane opened the floor to questions. Answering one legislator's inquiry concerning the isolation some freshmen claim they feel because of having to live on East Campus, Keohane said she hoped the Adopt-a-Quad program, which pairs each freshman dorm with an upperclass quad, and the Faculty Associates Program would help alleviate such anxieties.
After her address, Keohane introduced David Ferriero, the University's new head librarian, who then made a brief speech during which he asked for student input regarding future library policies.
After Keohane and Ferriero finished, members of the legislature then turned their attentions to electing students to the Student Organizations Finance Committee and the Judiciary. A large portion of the legislature's time, however, was devoted to discussing the University's severe weather policy.
DSG-in a move that allied it with the Student-Employee Relations Coalition and the Graduate and Professional Student Council-passed a resolution calling for reform to the policy, which came under fire a couple of weeks ago when the administration upheld only parts of it after Hurricane Fran.
The resolution, which the legislature unanimously approved, calls for the formation of a committee comprising administrators, students and faculty to review the current policy and to submit by Nov. 21 a draft of revisions. Trinity junior Trang Nguyen, DSG vice president for community interaction, presented the resolution, which calls upon the University to adopt the revised policy by the end of the fall semester.
"I think it's a good idea that DSG step forward as a representative of the students and Duke as a whole in admitting that we did make a mistake," said Trinity sophomore Noah Borun, DSG legislator, "and hopefully this will go some of the way toward remedying it."
The resolution recommends that the University not penalize employees who failed to show up for work due to inclement weather. It also calls for the establishment of a better communications system among administrators, students, faculty and employees. Lastly, it suggests that the administration create a policy to differentiate between essential and non-essential employees.
IN OTHER BUSINESS: The legislature voted to renew the charters of No Boundaries-a student-run organization that holds open mike poetry readings at The Coffeehouse on East Campus-and of Student Art Volunteers, an organization that promotes the appreciation and awareness of the Duke University Museum of Art.
Legislators also voted to recognize, but not charter, Duke Kitchen Endeavors, whose charter request was tabled at the last general body meeting because of questions relating to the group's funding needs and to its scheduled wine-tasting event, which could itself be a violation of the alcohol policy.
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