“Living in a place that is not meant to be a living area affects students’ work output, both in school work and living,” said Senator Ricky Fernandez, International Student Federation. “We as SGA need to look out for students.”

As a former resident of Scholars House, Fernandez proclaims his interest in the bill to regulate concerns of overcrowding on campus.

The Student Government Association passed a resolution “to recognize and state concern towards the problems underlying residential and academic planning and to propose that immediate action be taken to remedy the situation.”

Senator Matt Love, Parks College, has been looking into the situation, since this summer when the actual number of students was determined.

“In the past few years, we have seen a steady increase in enrollment in private colleges,” Love said. “It’s a national phenomenon.”

In the past years, the University has made accommodations to house and support more students with the additions of such residence halls as Marchetti Towers, Village Apartments and Notre Dame Hall. More recently, Residence Life offices in Walsh, as well as Greek chapter rooms in DeMattias, have been converted into dorm rooms.

“We’re running out of room to expand,” Love said.

There are space limitations not only in residence halls, but also in classrooms. According to Love, some classes hold 34 students in rooms with only 30 desks. “This creates a scurry to find a suitable room to hold the class,” Love said.

“We’re asking for a committee to be formed dealing with issues for now, for next year, and for four years down the road,” Love said.

“Everybody that we’ve approached is extremely eager to do something about this situation,” Love said.

“This is not an indictment of anything done wrong to students,” said Senator Paul Woody, Arts and Sciences. “We’re just talking to avoid any future problems.”

Senator Angela Haas, graduate commuter, voiced issues on behalf of the graduate students. “Eighty-five percent of graduate students have no options for them and their families to live on campus.”

The resolution was agreed to without any objections.

The committee, according to the resolution, should include representatives from SGA, the Office of the Provost and the Division of Student Development.

According to Vice President Kathy Humphrey, “There are several small groups working on the situation to bring information to the larger group when it is formed.”

In another issue for students’ rights, a resolution to request that the University address the current inequities underlying on-campus student employment was passed.

The resolution calls for a “Universal Code on Student Employee Rights,” which should define and outline the rights of student employees, including federal work study employees.

According to Haas, student employees have been fired for no reason with no explanation.

“It’s hard to do a job effectively if you know that you can be fired at any time,” said Senator Rich Bergin, undergraduate commuter.

SGA President Jay Perry said that his work-study job had been threatened when he exercised free speech on behalf of Griesedieck students as a freshman.

“That makes me think that if it happened to me, then it happens to other students as well,” Perry said.

Love stressed that the bill also deals with the idea that there is no place for students to go looking for jobs.

“We can centralize this so all students have one place to go find jobs,” Love said.

In other business, a bill to change the time of the House of Governors meetings to every first and third Tuesday of every month was approved.

In new business, the O’Brien House Senator Brook Kreikemeier, will be seated in four weeks on Oct. 25. After some discussion of amending the SGA constitution to seat the new senator sooner, it was decided to simply wait the four weeks.

“It would take one week to write an amendment, another week to table the amendment, and then she would still not have the option to be seated for three weeks,” said Dane Salazar, financial vice president.

Also in new business, four bills to confirm and seat members to the 2000-2001 SGA Committee for Internal Affairs, Academic Affairs Committee, Finance Committee and the Nominating Committee were combined in an omnibus bill and agreed to without dissent.

A resolution was agreed to in order to recognize and state concern towards the problems underlying residential and academic planning, and to propose that immediate action be taken to remedy the situation.