Campus safety was a major topic of discussion at Tuesday’s GUSA general assembly meeting, the first full meeting in which the newly-elected freshman representatives were able to participate, and at the GUSA advocacy committee meeting.

GUSA representatives discussed various ways to bolster on- and off-campus security in light of the recent off-campus robbery in which a student was held at gunpoint in Burleith.

Assembly chair and GUSA Vice President Brian Walsh (COL ’02) expressed interest in extending the availability by SafeRides by one hour nightly, so that shuttles would run until 3 a.m. Sunday through Wednesday and until 4 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. “Most of the bars close at three, so it’s pointless to have SafeRides closing the same time the bars close,” GUSA President Ryan DuBose (COL ’02) said.

The student association also discussed plans to strengthen the SafeWalks program.

At the GUSA Advocacy meeting following the general assembly meeting, Macky Neal (COL ’02), chair of the Advocacy Committee on Student Health, Safety and Justice, explained that the committee is in the process of looking for alternative ways to staff the program. They are primarily looking to resident and apartment assistants and the Community Councils within residence halls to help sponsor the program, possibly as a means of fulfilling the community service element of residential life requirements. The hours of the program will continue as 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, and if successful, the committee hopes that Department of Public Safety will pick up the program in the future.

“This is a program we really feel is worth continuing, and we want to get people to volunteer because it is a program they want to participate in,” Neal said.

GUSA is also looking into placing better lighting and emergency call boxes off campus. Safety Week is being planned for the week of Jan. 21 to 25. The five themes for each of the days of the week are global health/safety and justice, off-campus safety, on-campus safety, physical and mental health.

Sworn in at the last GUSA meeting, freshman representatives participated actively. “I liked the interaction between all the GUSA members,”Freshman Representative Nazareth Haysbert (COL ’05) said.

More experienced GUSA representatives were pleased with the freshmen. “They all bring a lot of energy, good ideas and a fresh perspective,” Walsh said. The four freshmen will be participating in an orientation program before next Tuesday’s meeting, in which they will be paired with experienced upper-class representatives who will “show them the ropes to enable them to be more effective,” Walsh said.

One of the first tasks of the newly-elected freshmen has been to drum up support for the freshman class committee, which has had 30 applicants to date, a low number in comparison to last year, when 35 students served on the committee. As a result, the application deadline has been extended to Sunday, Oct. 21. Applications are available online at www.gusaweb.org, or on the door of the GUSA office.

In the meeting’s only business item, all-new appointees to the lecture fund were approved unanimously in a resolution by Senior Representative Steve Glickman (COL ’02) and seconded by Senior Representative Keavney Klein (NHS ’02).

Also discussed at the meeting was the revamped GUSA Web site, which is now divided into three simple sections: “GUSA News and Issues,”Get Involved” and “Speak Out.” The Georgetown One Book will also be put online on the site.

At the advocacy committee meeting, the Diversity Committee explained they are planning events for Diversity Week, which will take place next week.

The Student Services Committee is trying to have air conditioning installed in Yates Field House, tentatively scheduled for completion by the end of next semester, according to GUSA Representative Trey Street (SFS ’03).

The Academic Affairs Committee is currently preparing the proposal of an African American Studies proposal and implementation of an online add/drop and syllabi, according to Committee Chair Tom elvin (COL ’02).

In hopes of making it easier for students to find housing off campus, the Community Relations Committee is developing an off-campus student housing database where students will be able to look at reviews by other students of places to live off campus. GUSA General Assembly meetings will be held in the Club Room on the third floor of Leavey Center Tuesdays at 8 p.m. and also in the Club Room, GUSA Advocacy Committees meet every Tuesday at 9:30 p.m.