Alex Lahr was approved by the student senate Thursday as Marquette Student Government’s Communications Vice President after running for a second term unopposed. Lahr, a junior in the College of Communication, has held the position since February 2012.

During his first term, Lahr has tried to increase transparency in MUSG through the use of social media and other online resources, hiring a social media coordinator and posting legislative updates every two weeks on MUSG’s website and blog.

“There were a lot of things that could be improved upon in a single term,” Lahr said. “In the past, there wasn’t a lot of transparency in MUSG senate, and I really hope to continue with the good strides we’ve made in improving that.”

One of the ways Lahr hopes to increase communication is by creating a “meet MUSG” section on the website where students can “get to know the friendly faces of MUSG, being able to be introduced to people on campus who represent their needs,” he said.

MUSG also elected Emmaline Jurgena to serve on its Student Organization Financing committee. Jurgena beat out Dani Theis for the open residential senator spot. The Cobeen senator and freshman in the College of Communication currently serves on the Student Organizations standing committee.

Tommy Hayes, chairman of the Student Organizations standing committee, spoke highly of Jurgena, saying her work on his committee made her qualified for the position.

“Emmaline has served admirably on the Student Organizations Committee and has a passion for MUSG,” Hayes said. “She has expressed great interest in helping student organizations and has a fresh new perspective that will make a significant impact on the SOF committee.”

Other issues addressed by the senate included the possible construction of an ice rink on campus and concerns over the elimination of the Japanese department in the College of Arts & Sciences. A proposal to increase clarity while registering for classes on Checkmarq was also discussed.

Under the proposal, Checkmarq would display information such as how a course is graded, and core classes would display the names of their instructors instead of just reading ‘Staff.’

Two new clubs, the Alexander Hamilton Society and the Dispute Resolution Association, were approved by the Student Organizations Committee.

Another  proposal brought up during the meeting was the introduction of reusable take out containers for use at the AMU and dining halls. This semester, Sodexo reported composting 3 tons of post-consumer waste and reported a 3 percent increase in swipe usage by students.

Meredith Augspurger, a junior in the College of Communication, said the use of reusable containers would help to reduce waste but that its effectiveness would be limited if the university did not provide the containers.

“I think there’s a lot of waste generated by take-out stuff on campus,” Augspurger said. “If (the container) is provided for me, I’d use it.”