A heavy agenda and lack of time at its final meeting of the year April 16 prevented the Senate from discussing recommendations made by the Emory Village Committee to improve the commercial district adjacent to campus.
While the Senate voted to accept the Committee's report, discussion and consideration of Committee recommendations were tabled until the September meeting. The Committee's recommendations include:
*That the Board of Trustees form an Emory Village Committee, composed of several trustees, University Secretary Gary Hauk, Vice President for Business Bobby Williams, Vice President and Dean for Campus Life Frances Lucas-Tauchar, Associate Vice President for Governmental and Community Affairs Steve Moye, a member of the Senate's Campus Development Committee, and any others the Committee might find useful.
*That the University adopt a policy of land purchase in Emory Village whenever and wherever possible, in the interest of acquiring, over the long term, sufficient leverage to influence or control redevelopment and to allow (if deemed necessary and desirable) for the physical expansion of the campus through placement of University-related facilities in the Village.
*That the University immediately begin to negotiate cooperative agreements with present owners and lessees in the Village and, with appropriate county agencies, to accomplish wherever possible certain salient objectives connected with the ongoing redevelopment of Emory Village. Specific objectives include visual enhancement, vehicular traffic control, ease and safety of pedestrian access, addition of green space, shared parking, and enrichment of the mix of businesses.
In other business, the chairs of the Senate's nine standing committees presented their annual reports. Highlights included:
*Athletic Policy: The Committee has recommended the addition of women's softball to the athletic program, partly in an effort to preserve gender equity in light of a recent increase in the proportion of women students in Emory College. The proposed playing site is the former tennis courts site between Peavine II parking deck and Chappell Park.
*Campus Life: Major initiatives included encouraging the use of electronic campus communication while reducing reliance on fliers and other forms of paper.
*Committee on the Environment: Modifications of plans for a new Scholars Press building and the American Cancer Society's Hope Lodge were the Committee's major projects of the year.
*Fringe Benefits: The Committee proposed a significant standardization of the current informal retiree benefits policy. (See story on Page 4). Also, the University recently adopted a policy on hepatitis B vaccination for employees considered at risk. A similar policy was recommended by the Committee last year.
*Library Policy: In response to a Committee recommendation on community-wide access to library resources, Provost Billy Frye has established a task force on removing barriers to library use; the task force has made some preliminary reports.
*Safety and Security: The Committee is addressing the lack of security standards across campus, the issue of violence and its acceptability by students, and the problem of passive smoke in Dobbs Center's Coca-Cola Commons. Plans for a more self-contained smoking area are expected to be implemented by the summer.
*Traffic and Parking: The Committee recommended a three-way stop at Asbury Circle and Fraternity Row, as well as some additional crosswalks. Continued encouragement of the use of alternative transportation programs also was a high priority.
Reports also were given by the Campus Development and Honorary Degrees committees.
At the Commission's last meeting of the academic year April 15, Chair Pat Marsteller announced that a recent minority student recruitment event was extremely well-attended, with all 90 students who confirmed actually attending.
Marsteller said the event, sponsored by a number of student organizations and the NAACP, attracted prospective minority students from all over the country.
The tone of the otherwise successful event was somewhat dampened, Marsteller said, when a male student reported being stopped by the Emory Police Department (EPD) for no apparent reason. Marsteller said the incident is not isolated and is part of a pattern of EPD stopping a disproportionate number of African American males on campus, including faculty and staff, with a seeming lack of probable cause. She urged the Commission to make the matter a top priority next year.
Chair-elect Bob Lee, who became chair at the April meeting, said the Commission must address an array of issues next year, including the often difficult problem of involving larger numbers of community members in the Commission's work.
--Dan Treadaway