Last Tuesday, Nov. 17, the Student Government held its first forum of the semester. Both student and staff, and faculty members attended. The meeting was live-streamed for juniors who are currently studying abroad. The first half of the forum featured directors from all the Student Government committees, including External Affairs, Internal Affairs, Global Affairs, Residence Life, Clubs & Organizations, and Events. The second half of the forum was a panel consisting of staff from Student Life and Campus & Facilities. The panelists were David Yen, David Pe, Keith Kraughto, Shara Yim and Dean Charlene Visconti. The discussion was led by Cheryl Li, Director of Internal Affairs (Class of ’18) and Dylan Crow, Director of Residential Life (Class of ’18). Currently, Wesley Livingstone (Class of ‘18) is temporarily sitting in as Director of External Affairs, replacing Martin Ma. The External Affairs Committee is working to foster relationships with Chinese universities around Shanghai. It was emphasized that NYU Shanghai will once again organize Spirit Week from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4. This discussion was led by Elle Lutz, the study away representative from NYU New York. On Monday, the first day of the Spirit Week, the school body will be encouraged to dress in four respective colors. The Class of 2017 color is white, the Class of 2018 color is red, the Class of 2019 color is blue, and the Staff & Faculty color is black. Tuesday will be fictional character day where students and staff will be encouraged to dress up as a fictional character of their choice. Wednesday will be pajama day, when students and staff will be encouraged to show up in pajamas. In an effort to create camaraderie between freshman, sophomores, and portal students, there will be a school-wide dodgeball game on Thursday. All teams must include at least one person from each year. 50% of the funds raised will go to a charity in Shanghai, and the rest will go to support Student Government. Student Government is in the process of fostering greater transparency and collecting more opinions from students. Hobin Kim, Assistant Director of External Affairs (Class of ’19) introduced the “Voice of Students”, a new Student Government initiative. The idea was originally suggested by Michelle Huang. It allows students to scan a QR code to post any ideas, suggestions, issues, or concerns to Student Government. The issues that arise will be discussed at the weekly Student Government meetings. For the second half of the forum panelists from the Office of Student Life, Campus & Facilities, and the Dean’s Office discussed concerns that arose. The panel answered questions posed by the student audience. When asked about potential options for students who wish to live off-campus, Dean Visconti said, “We think it’s a great idea and we’re trying to develop a network of host families. However, I don’t want to make any promises. We’ll try to move it forward and keep you all posted.”A student posed a question about the lack of common space in the Freshman building for groups of over three or four people. Also, she raised the difficulties of dining options at the Jinqiao residence. There is no school-provided dining options within the campus, and eating out at the Jinqiao International Mall can be a costly option. David Pe, Associate Dean said, “The school is currently looking at other options and we will be sitting down as a team to discuss the issue. The school had to sacrifice kitchens on the 3rd, 8th, and 16th floor of the Freshman Building in exchange for the Mac Lab on the first floor. Unfortunately, we don’t have the ability to build another dining option at Jinqiao. However, we’re looking forward to the stores that will open up on Zhangyang Road. We believe they will offer more an affordable variety of options for students. Also, a movie theater, a grocery store, and several shops are scheduled to open in the spring. We hope this will improve students’ dining experience.”There were discussions about shuttle bus times. However, the question could not be answered because Public Safety, which is in charge of shuttle bus scheduling- was not represented. Interested students are asked to contact Duane Voigt. Other discussions were about cafeteria hours. A few students asked that cafeteria hours be extended to accommodate breakfast. However, Keith Kraughto, Director of Operations, said that lunch and dinner times have already been extended by half hour from last year’s hours. It was a decision made in coordination with the Registrar and Public Safety, taking students, staff, and faculty hours into consideration. The next Student Government forum will be held in the auditorium once again and it will concern clubs and student organizations.