At Monday night’s Undergraduate Student Senate meeting, Mayor Halfacre joined to field questions ranging from COVID-19 to traffic, Senate nominations were held for the upcoming year, and a resolution was passed recommending an increase in the Career Center fee.
After a motion by Senator Campbell Tiffin, they were joined by Clemson Mayor Robert Halfacre.
Mayor Halfacre accepted questions of all kinds from the Senators, with COVID-19 being chief among their concerns. Senator Brittany Bynum asked the mayor what changes they were considering in the downtown area to limit exposure.
“It is a tough time to maintain safety measures with small businesses, but there are ways to avoid unhealthy gathering,” explained Halfacre. “I think we were like third or fourth in the state to put a face mask ordinance in place.”
Finance & Procedures Chair Matt Innocenti asked Halfacre about city finances with COVID-19 in mind.
“From a city perspective, we are really concerned about our businesses and residents,” said Halfacre. “Our city is down over 30% financially, and that is mainly due to COVID, especially since we aren’t at full capacity for our restaurants or for Clemson football.”
Campus Life Chair Tate Fowler asked the mayor if the city was working on Tiger Boulevard’s infamous fast-food lines.
“We have reached out to the SC Department of Transportation many times to discuss many options,” said the mayor. “There are a lot of different solutions that could help fix the issue on Tiger Boulevard, but none of them [are] a quick fix.”
After many questions, the focus was given to Academic Affairs Chair Carson Wood. Senator Wood discussed the Michelin Career Center’s Professional Shadowing Day Pilot Program, which allows students to shadow a professional for a day.
Wood said that there were no plans or conversations about modifying Spring Break, but that Summer Orientation will be online again. The committee stated that the Fall 2021 semester will have as many in-person interactions as in Spring 2021 at the very least.
We heard once again from Senator Fowler, who said that the Campus Life Committee is primarily focused on continuing housing and housing for quarantined and isolated students.
Senator Innocenti of Finance and Procedures mainly focused on CUSG elections, for which they passed another temporary rule change. He stresses that the election is continuing.
Health and Human Services Chair Cassidy Smith reported that the committee is working closely with Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) to work on mental health resources.
Inclusion and Equity Chair Tyler McDougald introduced Clemson University Adaptive Sports and Recreation.
Next was Innovation and Technology Chair Sophie Finnel, who said they are looking into CUID’s not working on iPhone 12. CCIT will also be highlighting black tech pioneers all of February.
Senator Taylor Rogers, the Chair of Student Activities, confirmed that a campus scavenger hunt is in the works, as well as plans for yoga on Bowman Field.
As usual, the Transportation and Facilities Committee, led by Chair Davis Cooney, is working on campus parking issues.
The Senate then moved on to SRE4, authored by Senator Wood and Senator Franke, which would recommend a fee increase for the Career Center. After much debate, the bill was passed.
New bills SRE5, a recommendation on reducing out-of-pocket cost for courses and SRA2, focused on CUSG election laws, were sent back to committee.
The CUSG Senate meets every Monday night from 7 to 8 P.M. with the meeting live to the public on Facebook. The minutes for this week’s meeting are available online.
