The Tartan

By Mirren Hibbert

In the course of its general body meeting on March 20, Carnegie Mellon’s Undergraduate Student Senate considered two significant proposals: one aimed to reduce the number of senators from 48 to 20, and another aimed to increase the picnic table budget from $3,500 to $29,200 to fund new outdoor seating near the tennis courts. 

Both proposals prompted discussion among  undergraduate student senators regarding Senate representation, resource use, and long-term campus planning.

The proposed seat restructuring bill, introduced by Undergraduate Student Senate Finance Chair Kyle Hynes, a senior in statistics and data science, would shift the student-to-senator ratio from approximately 1:140 to 1:360. It is intended to address concerns around seat vacancies, election competitiveness, and budget efficiency.

Hynes argued that this act could increase the likelihood of contested elections, reduce seat vacancies, currently filled by Senate vote rather than student vote, increase attendance at Senate meetings, and lower the amount spent by the Senate on food and merch. 

He calculated the year-long Senate budget for food and merch to be $19,520. A smaller Senate, he argued, could reduce this cost.

Expecting the counterargument of whether a small body can function properly, the senior cited five states, Alaska, Hawaii, Delaware, Nebraska, and New Hampshire, that currently have smaller Senate sizes than his planned 20-member Senate bill. 

During the meeting, Hynes responded to questions from the undergraduate senators, though none expressed full support for the proposal. 

The Senate meeting also included discussion of a proposal for more picnic tables, which would necessitate a much larger budget for the project.

Sanjeev Naiek, a sophomore majoring in Civil & Environmental Engineering and Engineering & Public Policy who serves as the Senate’s Operations Chair, proposed adding new picnic tables along the walkway next to the tennis courts, where picnic tables have been in the previous years. The new tables would be made of steel.

Naiek collected responses from 100 individuals on the Carnegie Mellon campus, 97 percent of whom supported adding tables to this location. 

While Naiek acknowledged the selection bias of this survey, he stated that the feedback from the survey does provide a strong indication that Carnegie Mellon students would support putting tables back in their previous location along the walkway between the UC and CFA.

However, to implement this proposal the allotted $3,500 for picnic tables would need to be raised to $29,200. This would cover the costs of four steel tables. 

According to the survey sent out by Naiek, Carnegie Mellon uses a specific picnic table model, which means the price per table is fixed. 

Naiek shared a screenshot of an email exchanged between himeslf and an administrator, which states that a 99 inch picnic table with benches is expected to cost $3,300. 

When asked in the survey whether they supported Carnegie Mellon’s decision to purchase this specific model event at this price, 92 percent of respondents said yes.

During the questioning period, senators discussed the feasibility of placing their Senate logo on the tables. 

Naiek’s presentation concluded with: “We have the money. Students have the desire. We have the ability. Students will benefit.”