“Have you been to the third floor of Pius [Library] and seen the pictures of the University change over the years? This school has changed a lot.”

Hiding in the library are some pictures of Saint Louis University’s past that only some students like Teresa Gabhart have noticed. Also hiding at SLU is some Billiken pride.

The rest of Student Government Association questioned the student body’s knowledge of SLU history at their Wednesday weekly meeting. History was emphasized as one of the many components to improving school spirit with the new “Billiken Pride Initiative,” introduced by Andrew Chappelle and President Cari Johns.

The two students hope to prevent apathy by many other means, including that of its fellow CSOs and sports teams. Chartered student organizations and SLU sports, for example, may display their memorabilia in the Student Center to encourage a pride in past and present issues most important to students.

“A jersey, pictures from a conference, anything that can display what your organization has been doing or did do,” said Johns.

In response to the “Initiative” presentation, Resident Hall Association president Nate Howard said, “It seems like we’re spending a lot of money on these things, but I don’t know how something so systematic will change how people feel.”

Financial Vice President Joe Cirillo later asked how SLU pride has changed over the years. Phil Lyons said that he believes it has to do with the “Savvis Center [being] poorly designed. Now you go to a basketball game, and you feel like no one’s there. That hurts the team’s performance. Back in ’96, there was less room to fill.”

No senator was certain whether sports or student involvement contributed more to school spirit.

“This idea may flop, but we’re gonna try it. If you guys don’t like it, you need to speak up and help us change it. This change will take a long time,” Johns said.

Changes take time, but are not only visible picture to picture, year to year and BSC to BSC, but also with a simple suggestion by a couple of Health Sciences senators.

Senators Charles Flint and Andrew Sweeny proposed an express shuttle service for students traveling to and from SLU’s south campus-separate from SLU’s current shuttle service.

“Many students make the trip to the med school or nursing school for one class and end up being late for their next class because the shuttle doesn’t make it in time,” Flint said.

“Many” translates to the 1,631 students of the Doisy College of Health Sciences, the third largest college at SLU. Each of these students have to spend “18 minutes in the shuttle ride alone because of the all the stops,” said Sweeny.

Senator Rozier suggested changing the times SLU’s shuttle system runs to accommodate these students’ schedules, but Flint responded, “The rest of SLU’s campus would then be inconvenienced as well. We need to give students a better transition [between the campuses] so they aren’t late for class.”

After the senate expressed some doubt in the claimed 18 minutes that the current shuttle system requires traveling north and south on Grand Boulevard, the community transportation act was amended by Senator Campbell. This new service will not necessarily be named “The Doisy Express,” nor will it automatically establish a direct shuttle.

Senator Pingel was among many to question the idea’s cost-effectiveness and inconvenience for the school and the drivers. Another question was, “How fast would the new shuttle be?”

“The time it takes-whatever vehicle the Doisy Express may be-is not the same as my Solara,” explained Senator Flint.

And with those questions left unanswered, the bill was finally passed without dissent. The final details will be addressed by a committee of SLU officials and at least one Doisy College of Health Sciences Senator.

In response to the changes in the world outside of SLU, SGA again listed a couple of ways to get involved with hurricane relief. First, Chappelle invited students to attend a “Relief Rock Out” in the lower quad of the Village Apartments. Acts will start at 6 p.m., and patio stations will be set up for anyone willing to donate to multiple sponsors such as the Salvation Army and Red Cross.

Secondly, Senator Ikramullah invited students to attend “Islamic Relief’s Hurricane Katrina Fundraising Dinner.” An Islamic Relief representative is attending to discuss his recent experiences with the emergency relief organization.

Executive Vice President Krauss was happy to relay the total generated on SLU’s website in one week: $10,000.