UND Student Senate met on Oct. 25 to discuss the current events happening around campus. Among the items on the agenda were the three finalists of the new nickname.

There will be a runoff for the UND nickname between three choices Fighting Hawks, Nodaks and Roughriders.

“Originally it was supposed to be just two, but Nodaks and Roughriders finished so close, President Kelly decided to add in Nodaks,” UND Student Body President Matt Kopp said.

Kopp said he will be advocating that whatever name has a majority of 50 percent. “If that means we do another run off, so be it,” he said.

UND announced Oct. 28 that if none of the three choices reach the 50 percent threshold in the next runoff vote, there will be an additional runoff against the top two choices.

Among the other agenda items was the developing master plan for the library. Student government met with Stephanie Walker, the new dean of libraries, to talk about master planning process.

“She told us to look at different parts of the library so we could take on small projects next spring, they are going to bring in different furniture companies to test out different layouts by trying out furniture for a month, then switching it out to see what students like,” Student Body Vice President Taylor Nelson said.

Another issue brought to the senate was the lack of food options for students living in the Walsh quad since Wilkerson has reopened. Kopp suggested the possibility that Squires to go could be open from noon to 4 p.m. on weekends.

“I do think that is a concern, especially in the winter. There isn’t that many students who want to walk that far in the cold, and they end up loosing value in their meal plan,” Kopp said.

Senate then discusses the feedback the Union. Last year senate passed a bill to keep the Union open 24 hours as a study space. Lack of funding led to going back to the Unions original hours.

“Students were asking whether or not we could at least compromise if we can have finals week be 24-hour access in the Union, I think that is something we should take a closer look into and I support,” Nelson said.

The final item discussed was looking into the use of the taxi service Uber. Student Government plans to send out a survey this week to students to get thoughts and opinions on the use of Uber by the UND student body.

Tony Watson is a news reporter for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected]