Photo and Story by Ethan Clark / Contributing Writer
Senators from Middle Tennessee State University’s Student Government Association decided to table debate on a resolution to construct a pavilion for students taking apartment shuttles in their weekly meeting Thursday.
The resolution, introduced by Sen. Simone LeClaire at the previous week’s meeting, would provide for the construction of a bus pavilion to shelter students from weather as they wait for apartment shuttles in the space near the Walker Library. LeClaire sent a letter to MTSU’s Parking Services department this week to receive support for the project, but the department expressed skepticism at many of the resolution’s proposals.
One proposal, for instance, would allow for the relocation of an unused bus pavilion to be placed at the apartment shuttle stop. A representative of Parking Services replied to LeClaire’s letter and stated that any unused bus stops on MTSU’s campus are reserved for future expansions to the school-run bus system.
Reading from the letter received from Parking Services, LeClaire went on to relay how Parking Services did not even recognize the area where the apartment shuttles pick up students near the Walker Library as a formal bus stop, therefore making it impossible to construct a bus pavilion for the time being.
Senators then debated over alternative solutions to this obstacle. One of the suggestions was to relocate the bus stop to the parking lot behind Walker Library. Ultimately, Sen. Nathan Watkins suggested to table discussion of the bill until SGA can confirm the parking area as a formal bus stop location. SGA members agreed to the measure and adjourned for the day.
When asked if she was disappointed to see her bill tabled, LeClaire said she’d been expecting it ever since she received the letter from Parking Services.
“I was wanting to just bring it up for debate,” LeClaire said.
Despite the resistance to some aspects of the legislation, she was confident that the bill would eventually be passed.
“A lot of senators showed their support during the debate,” she said. “We just need to get the kinks worked out.”
SGA members also discussed how to be more engaged with their constituents by hosting coffee meetups and formal presentations.
“We just really want (students) to reach out and connect with their senators,” said Hermon Phuntling, the SGA vice president of marketing.
To contact News Editor Andrew Wigdor, email newseditor@mtsusidelines.com.
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