ASSU President Hershey Avula ‘08 and Vice President Mondaire Jones ‘09 kicked off the Undergraduate Senate meeting last night with a progress report on their activities during the summer and fall. Avula and Jones highlighted the fulfillment of a number of their campaign goals, though they were quick to admit that some promises have proved untenable or have met some challenges in coming to fruition.

Avula opened with an update on the new Course Guide. He lauded the success of the project, though he admitted that the absence of qualitative data or a search function was still a “serious problem” for the site’s success.

Avula said that adding qualitative data to the site is a long-term goal, but several deans have rejected the idea. He also proposed a new “class resource guide” featuring a textbook exchange, qualitative evaluations and class scheduling information.

The pair went on to discuss a number of other student complaints that the ASSU hopes to address in the coming months.

The president said he was disappointed that the trial run of the ASSU Airport Shuttle Service faced a few technical difficulties, and that eight to ten people who had signed up were skipped. However, Avula said that the ASSU plans to work out the glitches in the service in time for a Thanksgiving run.

“The whole point of that spring trial was just that, a trial, to see what we wanted to do to change it,” he said.

Avula also addressed the ASSU’s focus on sustainability, but said he regretted the lack of composting options at the Axe and Palm. Jones added that he and Avula hoped to work for the creation of a space similar to that of the now-closed CoHo, an idea also supported by Assistant Dean for Student Unions Jeanette Smith-Laws.

“We’ve heard a lot of frustration about the CoHo closing down,” Jones said. “We want to recreate that space in Old Union. We’re going to be advocating to the Vice Provost for Student Affairs.”

The team also promised to do its best to have a fairer Big Game admissions policy — currently seat assignment priority will be based on the accumulation of points from attending prior games. The stadium only holds 3,000 seats.

“That means there are going to be a lot of seniors who don’t get to see their final Big Game,” Avula said.

Avula and Jones also discussed a number of in-the-works proposals. The pair said that they have been in dialogue with Housing about incorporating gender-neutral housing into the Draw this spring. Avula said the greatest difficulty with this proposal is that the Draw is currently structured to provide gender balance across residences.

The ASSU executives praised the success of a last-minute post-USC victory rally. They expressed high hopes for social programming in the winter and spring, such as a Movie Express transportation service, a Stanford Idol competition and a Row Block Party.

But it wasn’t all optimism for Avula and Jones. The pair explained why a number of their ideas have failed to pan out, including several campaign promises.

Avula said that a number of plans for improving Stanford Dining are in the works — converting missed meals into points, substituting personal meals for guest meals and rotating dining hall themes.

But Avula said implementing these ideas “may be a stretch.”

Another major blow to Avula and Jones’ campaign hopes was the failure to convince the University to provide health care for graduate students and their dependents. However, Avula advocated for the creation of a single Web site consolidating the publicity of various local options.

Avula also regretfully admitted that, despite previous hopes, the Big Game Bonfire will not be revived.

“In our eyes it would have been an unsuccessful event,” Avula said. “If we’re talking about sustainability, it’s kind of hypocritical.

“We were thinking about somewhere out on Galvez Field,” he added, “but the size of the bonfire would have been so small that it wouldn’t have been conducive to the big size of the event” in the past.

Following Avula and Jones’ presentation, Senator Stuart Baimel ‘09 recommended that the Senate take a stand on Donald Rumsfeld’s Hoover Institution appointment. Baimel is preparing statements for and against Rumsfeld’s new position in the hope that one will pass.

“It is imperative that we take a stand on this issue sooner rather than later,” Baimel said. “I think it’s shameful that we haven’t done anything on this yet, considering that so many students are concerned about it.”

The meeting rounded up with the submission of a bill for the appointment of Bernard Fraga ‘08 and Lindsay Heyen J.D. ‘09 to the Constitutional Council.