Comets Remember

President Akshitha Padigela’s proposal to engrave the rocks in the reflection pools with the names of Comets who’ve passed while attending or after being accepted to UTD was approved. The project will be complete in time for the Comets Remember event on April 6 at 10 a.m.

The families of the remembered students will be presented with the stone with their student’s name on it. Padigela said all students who passed since 2007 will have their names engraved and rocks will continue to be added, should any Comet pass away in the coming years. Student Affairs is taking care of the cost and SG will create a plaque to mark the location.

UTD App

Vice President Joey Campain informed senators the long-awaited UTD app is nearing completion. The app will go through a beta test next month. The hope is to have it structured to track the Comet Cabs and Comet Cruisers, as well as have links to important websites, such as the library’s site. The projected completion date is fall 2017.

Language Survey

Jonathan Schueler, leader of the academic affairs committee, is making plans to send out a general survey about language learning barriers at UTD. It will gauge how well changes to the language department would serve the student body and whether they are needed.

Laundry Rooms

Residential Student Affairs Committee Leader Tiffany Chu is taking steps to resolve the laundry issues students experience in the dorms. Chu’s plan is to send out a survey this week through a Qualtrics link to measure the interest of the student body in installing shelves in the laundry rooms to place unclaimed clothes.

Senate Bill 4

Christian Filsouf, leader of the legislative affairs committee, spoke to UTD Police Chief Larry Zacharias concerning SB4, a new bill in the Texas Legislature that would give local and state police, including campus police departments, the power to enforce laws concerning immigration.

Zacharias informed Filsouf that UTD police will not take action against students in alignment with SB4 because their job is to enforce criminal law rather than civil law. Filsouf told the senate that any student, regardless of background, should not be afraid of calling campus police if they need assistance. Students can also contact the chief directly with questions or concerns.