The third General Assembly of the Fall 2018 semester took place on Nov. 4 in the West Dining Hall. Topics discussed at the assembly included midterm elections, the light bulbs used on campus, the automatic doors by the Baraha, the Student Portal, communications and more.

Student Government first discussed recent programming on campus, such as the recent Halloween Ball which was deemed a success. The Programming Board discussed upcoming planned events such as organizing students to attend the premiere of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and the NYU Abu Dhabi Assassin Game 2018.

The midterm elections for Class of 2020 and 2021 Class Representatives, as well as elections for NYUAD’s Student Senator at NYU New York’s Student Senators Council were announced. Nominations for candidacy are being accepted at elections.nyuad@nyu.edu and will remain open until Nov. 12. A candidate forum will subsequently be held on Nov. 13. Voting will take place from Nov. 15 to Nov. 16 and the results will be declared on Nov. 18.

The topic of consumption of campus light bulbs was discussed in an effort to come up with more environmentally sustainable alternatives. LED bulbs were brought up as an alternative, and the conversation was set to be discussed further. The automatic doors by the Baraha were also brought up, as there had been complaints about the functionality of the doors. They have since been deautomated, but the removal of other automated doors on campus remains undecided, as some of them are connected to the fire alarm systems.

In regards to the issue of food waste in the East Dining Hall, Rashtra Raj Bhandari, Class of 2019, said that 110 kilograms of food was wasted last month alone. The discussion centered around the issue of oversized portions given to students in both dining halls and the limited effect of recent food waste awareness campaigns across campus. Suggestions such as smaller portions, better options for refills and the potential of saving leftover food at counters for staff were brought up. The discussion of solutions for this issue will continue in collaboration with the Dining Committee.

During the assembly, a student brought up the Student Portal and the organization of communications associated with it, as they were perceived to be confusing. Though the Student Portal and OrgSync are intended to be the main vehicles of communication within NYUAD, they are not necessarily the main portals used for community-wide correspondence, claimed the concerned student. The student task force, which has started working with the Office of Public Affairs, is taking ideas on the subject of Student Portal updates. It was also suggested that ideas on how to improve communication on campus be brought up at HackAD’s next Hackathon on Nov. 10.