USC’s student senate passed several pieces of legislation on Oct. 1, including recommendations to extend dining hours and expand meal plan use to athletic concessions.
Expanding dining hours
The senate passed a recommendation to expand dining hours on weekdays and high demand days. The legislation is sponsored by Sen. Lester Lewis.
The recommendation aims to extend dining hall hours on weekdays and high demand days, such as athletic game days, when there is a greater student presence on campus. According to the recommendation, many students have academic, work and extracurricular responsibilities that can extend late into the evening when dining halls are closed.
According to the recommendation, Garnet Station is open Monday through Friday until 9 p.m., and The Pavilion is open until 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
“Later hours to me would be anything that could help accommodate these students that are looking for these later night meals,” Lewis said.
According to the recommendation, the later hours would be implemented on a rotating schedule or when deemed necessary.
Athletic concessions
The senate also passed a recommendation to expand meal plan use to athletic concessions. The legislation is sponsored by Lewis.
According to the recommendation, meal plans, retail swipes and meal plan dollars cannot be used on athletic concessions.
Allowing the use of meal plans at athletic venues would prove more convenient for students and allow for their meal plans to meet their campus needs, the recommendation said.
“(The retail swipes) would be accepted at the athletic venues where they deem it necessarily appropriate,” Lewis said.
Lewis said he hopes to target athletic events with heavy student traffic, such as football, soccer and volleyball.
Athletic concessions at Williams-Brice Stadium used to be compatible with meal plans prior to the stadium’s renovations a couple of years ago, Lewis said. He said he hopes to bring back the software program that allowed for meal plan compatibility at athletic venues.
Outdoor Wi-Fi coverage
The senate passed a recommendation to expand outdoor Wi-Fi coverage around campus. The legislation is sponsored by Lewis.
According to the recommendation, outdoor areas around campus, such as the Horseshoe, can have limited Wi-Fi connectivity. The recommendation aims to expand Wi-Fi to not only the Horseshoe, but also green spaces, outdoor study spaces and bus stops.
Other SEC schools have already made steps to expand their outdoor Wi-Fi networks, according to the recommendation.
The recommendation said providing students with reliable Wi-Fi access outdoors would enhance the campus experience, as well as assist those who prefer to study and do classwork outdoors.
Disability services notifications
The senate also passed a recommendation to implement a streamlined notification system to update students on disability services. The legislation is sponsored by Sen. Jasmine Whatley.
According to the recommendation, about 4,000 students are registered with the USC Disability Resource Center. There is no notification system in place to provide updates from disability services when events occur on campus that can hinder accessibility, according to the recommendation.
“There is construction and obstructions on campus sometimes that doesn’t necessarily get told to students who need that accessibility to get to places," Whatley said.
Whatley said having an update or notification system in place would be beneficial for students registered with a disability so they can get to class efficiently .
Additional legislation and Cockstock Town Hall
The senate passed a bill to amend the impeachment process and clarify existing impeachment procedures. The bill is sponsored by Sens. Kiki D’Apolito and Grant Dworzanowski.
The senate also passed a recommendation allowing for the allocation of funds to various student organizations. The recommendation is sponsored by the Finance Committee.
Student Government held a “Cockstock Town Hall” on Oct. 1. According to data presented at the meeting, pulled from a survey open to all students, 25% want to see a rap artist at next year’s Cockstock, along with 19% wanting a pop artist and 18% wanting an R&B artist. Out of 711 students polled so far, 404 were willing to pay between $11-15 for a ticket.
Student senate will meet again on Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 5:30 p.m.