Student Government President Stuart Watkins — now 20 weeks into his presidency — saw the completion of four initiatives on his campaign push card during the summer.Watkins said he and Student Government Vice President Martina Scheuermann  worked at the University almost every day this summer.”One of the big things we pushed for in the campaign was doing small things that go a long way,” Watkins said. “We did a good job of covering that base over the summer — getting students things that are going to help them on a day-to-day basis.”During the summer, faculty services distributed 976 small, blue recycling bins across offices and classrooms on campus. Student Government spent $5,000 in funding from student fees to purchase the bins, Watkins said.Watkins said money for the recycling bins was the only money spent this summer.The funds were used to purchase 876 desk-side recycling bins and 100 larger, 23-gallon bins. Andres Harris, University Solid Waste and Recycling manager, said about 50 percent of the University has recycling bins available, and the University currently recycles about 100 tons of material every month.”A new night bus route for students is something that I am most proud about getting implemented [with Tiger Trails] this summer,” Watkins said. “It’s something we ran on … and that is going to be the bus that runs Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights.”Watkins said the night routes were a priority while the contract for the new bus system was being finalized.Another initiative the executive branch completed this summer was the implementation of snack machines in Middleton Library. Scheuermann said the machines are next to the school supply vending machines and will be operational this week. Entering football season, Watkins said he and Scheuermann worked closely with the Athletic Department to provide cheaper concessions in Tiger Stadium to students who use Tiger Cash. Watkins said the exact amount of the discount hasn’t been finalized, but said the discount would be between 5 and 7 percent and would be in place for the first home game against Vanderbilt.Watkins said he also worked with the Athletic Department to revamp the student tickets section of lsusports.net to make ordering tickets more user-friendly.”I think we made a lot of headway over the summer,” Watkins said. “We knew if we didn’t get things knocked out or started over the summer that you will not get them done during the school year, so we really hustled to get things checked off and started. That way, when students get back, we are really ready to work.”Scheuermann said the next initiative is getting started on negotiating dead week policy. “[With dead week policy,] we want to make it so students can make teachers more accountable,” Scheuermann said. SG will work in the coming weeks on a pilot program for textbook rentals and implementing medical excuse policy at the Student Health Center for students who miss assignments due to some illness.And SG is beginning its work this semester in new offices in the Student Union.The new executive branch offices are located on the first floor of the Union at the south entrance of the building.”It is exciting to be in these new offices because they are right near an entrance,” Scheuermann said. “It is more welcoming and students need that because students need to see where SG is located, and when they walk in, there is always someone they can talk to here.”The new legislative offices and new senate chamber is located on the third floor. The third floor offices also feature a common area for students to study.The cost of the new offices are built in to the Union’s renovation plan. Students are paying $89 this semester in fees for the Union renovation, Student Union Business Manager Dave Besse said.The first SG Senate meeting in the new chambers will be Wednesday. During the first meeting, the SG Senate will elect a new Speaker Pro Tempore, as well as electing senators for various committees during the first meeting, said Drew Prestridge, Senator for the College of Arts and Sciences.—-Contact Xerxes A. Wilson at [email protected]