By Allyssa Schoonover
Reporter
Each semester around finals week, students can be found wandering around the library searching for an available spot to study. Student Senate addressed this situation when they discussed a new bill that would make additional space available.
Kingwood junior Kathryn Ott wrote a bill to increase the hours the Bill Daniel Student Center will be open during finals.
Currently the SUB closes at midnight on Monday through Thursday and at 11 p.m. on weekends.
“We would like to extend the hours to 2 a.m.,” Ott said.
According to the bill, the proposed changes would extend the hours during dead days and a portion of exam days.
Ott said SUB staff members agreed this May will be a trial period for whether these extended SUB hours will continue in the future.
Some senators expressed concerns about the SUB turning into another “Club Moody.”
“Each level of the SUB kind of has a different feel to it,” senior student senator Trenton Garza said. “The bottom floor with the food has a Club Moody feel. That typically is the first place to fill up. The second floor is a little more docile. But then the top floor is usually not used too often and is fairly quiet.”
Although there are no designated quiet areas in the SUB, a concern that some senators mentioned, societal norms tend to warrant quieter areas upstairs.
One of the most challenging tasks during finals week is not only covering class materials but finding a place to study.
“For the purpose of this bill and extending the time, it is very important that we back this. We want to make accommodations for students who are looking for a place to study,” Garza said.
Ott said she spoke with five individuals in the SUB about cost and various other details. They estimated that the increases in cost would be minimal and would only amount to the increased hours of student workers. They also decided that the rooms upstairs would be available as well.
Jordy Dickey, the assistant director of student union, said she is interested in extending the hours.
Ott also said they will continue to discuss the details as well as the possibility of increasing the hours of the SUB’s restaurants.
