With Homecoming, the presidential election and Sustainability Committee Director Colin Knue always on the lookout for new green initiatives, Student Senate has been alive and running these past few months, and with the holiday season around the corner, there are more exciting events to come.

On Sunday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m., Senate will be presenting the annual Christmas Tree lighting event outside of the Cook Carriage House. This year there will be an exciting, newly added event that highlights how various cultures celebrate the holidays. The Diversity and Special Events Committees are combining forces to provide ten clubs the opportunity to choose a country and decorate a 4-5 foot tree based on that country’s holiday traditions. The trees will be displayed near the tables outside of The Moose, and the best-decorated tree will receive a prize that is still to be announced.

Issues that have been recently brought forward at Senate meetings are the lack of an ice machine at St. Joe’s, a request for more benches on campus, the possibility of moving smoker’s tables (particularly the one outside of Regina), enabling online class scheduling and finally, increasing the number of swipes that can be used at Wege.

Because these issues have only recently been brought to the floor, updates on potential changes are still in the works. Regarding the Wege swipes, however, Student Affairs Director Michael Licari did research with the Wege staff and found out that no changes are currently in the process of being made unless there is a strong enough voice from students who are willing to write a proposal and present it to the Wege staff.

Updates on these issues and others will be addressed at the next Senate meeting, which will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 3 p.m. in the Wege Ballroom. All students and faculty are welcome and encouraged to attend. At this meeting special guests, Provost Chad Gunnoe and newly appointed Dean of Students Dr. Patricia Chase will be speaking.