The Student Union Senate convened on Sunday to discuss ongoing initiatives and upcoming events, such as renovations in dining facilities and changes to the structure of meal plans as well as an upcoming roundtable discussion with Student Union officers and members of the University's administration.

The senators also approved one Senate Money Resolution for $380 to cover costs for an upcoming "State of Sustainability" town hall hosted by the Senate Sustainability Committee, and passed an amendment to the bylaws of its constitution which will institute an appeals process for the Senate's policy on absences at its meetings.

The amendment, proposed by North Quad Senator and Ways and Means Committee Chair Brian Hough '17, allows the Senate to reinstate, by a two-thirds vote, any senator who would be removed by the Senate absence policy. The policy states that a senator who misses more than three senate meetings will be removed from his or her position. If the Senate does not reinstate the senator, he or she may also appeal the case to the Student Judiciary.

A date has been tentatively set for the roundtable discussion with administration, which will be open to the public, for Thursday, March 13 at 5 p.m., Executive Senator Annie Chen '14 stated at the meeting. The location has yet to be determined, but Chen said that she hopes the event will be used as an open forum to air student concerns about dining and meal plans, tuition increases, transparency and other issues affecting the student body.

"The point of this is to really bring everything that we've worked on all year to the administration in one unified platform," said Student Union Vice President Charlotte Franco '15.

On the issue of dining, Off-Campus Senator Michael Kosowsky '14 reported that prices for next year's meal plans have not yet been confirmed. Although he said that he expects an increase, in line with tuition, room and board increases for the past few years, the structure of the plans is unknown.

"It doesn't seem like they can get us this information before the residence selection is due," said Kosowsky at the meeting.

Kosowsky also addressed his concerns with the University's Black History Month menus in a meeting with Sodexo officials. The menu, which Sodexo says was designed by a black chef in honor of the month, offered such foods as fried chicken and black-eyed peas. "The food selection was incredibly stereotypical, and ... sort of offensive," said Kosowsky. He said that Student Union representatives encouraged Sodexo to work with culture clubs on campus for such events in the future.

Senator-at-Large Andre Tran '14 stated that the Senate is looking to making WhoCash compatible with the vending machines.

Franco also said that Currito's, a restaurant chain specializing in burritos, would be opening a franchise in the Usdan Student Center as part of the renovations taking place there this summer.

Class of 2015 Senator Anna Bessendorf reported for the Sustainability Committee that she was working on connecting individual clubs' sustainability efforts, among them a reusable bottle giveaway by TapBrandeis. Bessendorf also said that she spoke with Jay DeGoia, regional district manager of Sodexo for Brandeis, about bringing in a composting contractor next year, and also having Sodexo participate in a "real food calculation," which aims to quantify how much food at Brandeis is "local, fair, humane, [and] ecologically sound."

Chen said that, following a meeting with head of procurement services John Storti, she was optimistic about future implementation of an email notification system for items received at the mailroom and that renovations to the mailroom would take place by next academic year.

Tran announced that Zivwoodstock would be held April 25 during the day. Foster Mods Senator Haley Orlofsky '14 announced that Modfest would be held on the same date, but during the night.

Franco also announced that she, along with a team of other senators, would be forming a committee for the academic calendar, to explore the possibility of adjusting absence policies or days off for religious holidays.

-Tate Herbert