The Associated Students University Affairs Committee met for their weekly meeting Wednesday at 12 p.m. to discuss a wide range of issues related to improving campus facilities for students.
The committee covers all topics that are not academic related. Each member provides their knowledge to help solve some of the major complaints from students on campus.
The committee discussed E-Matador, which is in the works to solve a major student complaint. Led by committee Chair Byron Baba and member Trevor Tyloch, E-Matador will be an online book exchange for CSUN students.
“One of the main complaints from CSUN students is that the exchange rate for their books (is) too low,” Baba said.
The Web site is currently under construction, but the process is moving slowly because the committee does not have all the needed resources or as much manpower as the university, Baba said.
Upon completion of the site, students will be able to set their own price for the books they are selling, and can even exchange them for a fair trade.
Class titles will break down the Web site.
The committee has not received any support from the university, but they plan to continue the project.
The issue of food quality on campus is managed by committee members Janet Hakopian and Sheela Bhongir. Their focus is to improve the variety of healthy foods on campus.
The committee would like to improve use of oils on campus, and to encourage the university to provide more organic choices for students, Hakopian said.
The university has allocated money for the nutrition information from the foods cooked on campus to be available for students.
“We are also working on preparing a Web site for students, that will include a list of all the healthy food choices on campus,” Hakopian said.
They said they hope to collaborate with the Klotz Student Health Center to educate more students on campus.
Women’s issues are covered by committee members Emy Zabalaga and June Kwon.
Zabalaga is working on compiling a list of all the female-focused services available on campus. When the list is ready, they plan to send it to the women’s studies department for review to make sure it is sufficient.
Zabalaga said that they hope to publish the list next semester, and make it available for students.
Committee member James Buac is working on solving the wireless problem on campus.
“CSUN prides itself (on) offering wireless Internet to students, but there are complaints that some areas on campus do no get service,” Buac said.
The committee plans to run their own tests throughout the CSUN campus. Some areas of concern are Sierra Hall, the engineering building and Noski Auditorium.
They will create a report with the data and compare it with data provided by Information Technology Resources.
According to Baba, ITR encouraged the test, and said it would be good to compare data.
The test is scheduled to be done by the end of June.
Another issue of concern for the University Affairs Committee is led by Vice-Chair Samer Habib.
Habib said the university plans to expand its nursing program, and will be extending into other buildings. Habib said that the problem is they have chosen to take over room JD 2202 from the electrical and engineering students.
It is the Senior Design Room, and according to Habib, it is a very important room for the students.
Senior students use the room to mentor younger students, important lab software is available there, and students are able to study on the weekends with access to a fridge and a microwave.
Habib said that it has been difficult to speak with the Provost about this issue, and the problem has not received any attention so far.
It is so much of a concern for Habib that he said he will not support a university that does not support its students. He said he is ready to speak to as many alumni and graduate students as possible to gain support.
The University Affairs Committee is always looking for new members, Baba said. He said they it will also meet in the summer.
Anyone interested in joining can contact Baba at business2@csunas.org.
