By Elizabeth Bailey

During the Associated Students of NMU meeting Tuesday night, the board approved the budget for the 24-hour study lounge, costing only $306.

For the past two weeks ASNMU has deliberated which days they will have the 24-hour study lounge open. There was some discussion between the members.

“From what our representatives heard, students both on and off campus feel as though they would only use the lounge for midterms and finals week,” said Dani Thoune, chair of the assembly.

Abby Roche, general studies representative, told members that at the Halverson Hall government meeting some students didn’t think the lounge needed to be open the whole semester.

“A lot of students said they don’t use the lounge throughout the year except for midterms and finals,” Roche said.

However, there are still some students that have concerns, which have been posted on the ASNMU discussion board located in the lower level of the LRC.

They decided to approve the 24-hour study lounge with an eight-to-five vote. The board decided to only fund the lounge the week before finals and the week of finals because of an undefined mid-terms time.

“If students want the study lounge open for more than finals week, they can stop by the office any time and let us know,” Thoune said.

In other news, on-campus representative Ashle Helman was appointed external affairs liaison with a unanimous consent vote. The external affairs liaison is responsible for going to student organizations and finding out what some of their needs and concerns are.

According to the ASNMU bylaws, the external affairs liaison will foster communication among all registered student organizations to assist with policies and activities related to student organizations.