USG discusses bike share program, Committee on Diversity and Equity

The Undergraduate Student Government Senate discussed the bike share program during their weekly meetingon Sunday.

U-CouncilorEthan Marcus ’18 presented a brief update onthe new bike share program on campusand explained that the program has been going great so far, withmany new student users who had signed up for Zagster accounts. Marcus added that the bikes that students borrow do not need to be returned to the same bike racks.

Zagster, the bike-share operator,has been relocating the bikes to certain racks so that there will be around 10 to 15 bikes available at each rack at any time, according to Marcus. Marcus noted that he will also contact the Cyclabto come up with an internal solution to the bike availability problem.

TheCyclab is the University's own bike cooperative located at Rockefeller College, where students are paired with a mechanic who helps them repair their bike free of cost.

According to Marcus, bike racks are currently available at only threeof six residential colleges, but the bike share initiative will expand to all residential colleges in the coming months. He said he is also looking into the possibility of adding bike racks to the neuroscience building or the graduate college to increase accessibility to all students.

USG also introduced the new co-chairs of the Committee for Diversity and Equity, Adetobi Moses '18 and Taylor Branch '19.

Branch noted the committee is largely composed of freshmen.

USG PresidentAleksandra Czulak ’17 said that there had previously been four individuals on the committee, three of whom are seniors, and one junior who will be studying abroad next year. Freshmen expressed the most interest in participating on this committee on their USG applications.

According to Czulak, the committee will be completing initiatives that the outgoing members had begun, such as the COMBO survey, but alsostarting new ones.Moses and Branch said they will work on improving advising and support for gap year students as they matriculate and adjust to life on campus.

“We also see this committee taking a more collaborative role with other groups on campus,” Branch said.

She explained that the committee hopes to work with various cultural or affinity groups on campus, including, but not limited to, the Latinx group, the Office of Religious Life, and the LGBT center.

“We want to really push for this committee to be more personable, moving away from getting people to fill out surveys, [and] really shooting for more events,” Branch said.

Get the best of ‘the Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Branch added that the committee would like to create a venue for students to come and share their ideas and concerns on how to better tackle diversity issues on campus.

The Projects Boardapproved two funding requests for upcoming events.

Meredith Mihalopoulos '18and Sam Perkins '18, co-presidents of the Princeton Texans' Club,said that the club's annual barbecue will take place on the back lawn of Campus Club thiscoming Saturday.

“The fall barbecue was a really big hit,” Mihalopoulossaid. “We ran out of food in an hour.”

The Princeton Film Festival asked for funds to host guest speakers, including John Stahl of the California State University at Northridge.

Emma Michalak '17, president and programming director of PFF, said that 54 films from around the world–including ones submitted by University students—will be shown at the event. The guest speakers will talk about screenwriting and the work they’ve done in the industry, she noted.

Naman Jain ’17, Projects Board co-chair,explained that one consideration of the Board is whether student groups could also seek funding from alternative sources, such as Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students or cultural groups on campus.

Jonathan Balkind GS, communications director of the Graduate Student Government,said that GSG hopes to expand communication with undergraduates. Balkind pointed to a number of issues that affect both the undergraduate and graduate populations on campus, including dining and mental health.