Columbia College Student Council
While Columbia College Student Council did not pass more than a handful of measures this year, outgoing president George Krebs, CC ’09, said that he was proud of the “wide breadth” of issues the council had the opportunity to address, and that he chalked up a largely smooth year to the council’s ability to dodge controversy.
“I’m proud of the fact that we had the opportunity to fire on so many cylinders and tried to reach into a number of different areas of campus, which I think we will see the kind of fruits of ... in the coming years,” Krebs said.
While they may not have been embroiled in controversy themselves, CCSC found themselves seemingly as moderators of sorts this fall during the renewed debate over the possible return of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. After then-Sen. Barack Obama, CC ’83, and Sen. John McCain’s ServiceNation visit to Columbia, where they both addressed on-campus reserve officer training, the debate sprang up across campus again in the forms of meetings, town halls, and speakers. And while CCSC didn’t take sides, Krebs said he thought CCSC played an important role in furthering campus conversation.
As the council continues to adjust its elections and voting model, members have said that this year’s elections, the first time the Columbia College student body voted in runoffs instead of by straight majority, did not completely succeed in what they had set out to do—that is, to draw in more candidates, and bring more voters to the polls. Kinks in the new voting system may become clearer when executive board tickets aren’t running unopposed—the CCSC constitution says that presidents and vice presidents run in campaigns together, but a runoff system would elect candidates separately, a contradiction Krebs says hasn’t yet been worked out.
And long efforts to get the Portal project, a system that would act as a centralized location for undergraduate-related information, off the ground have shaped up in the final semester. After meeting and collaborating extensively with Columbia University Information Technology, Columbia College Information Technology, and Columbia Student Affairs, CCSC representatives said that a prototype of the information aggregation service will be rolling out within the next couple of months.
Krebs will be succeeded by class of 2010 vice president Sue Yang.
Student Government Association
Barnard’s Student Government Association moved with the times this year, working with the new administration and the construction of the new Diana Student Center, the building formerly known as the Nexus. Its members consistently met with Dorothy Denburg, dean of the Barnard College, to discuss updates to the school’s internal structure. The entire dean of studies office met with students at a town hall on March 9 to talk about the academic support that it offers. Zeest Haider, BC ’10, brought up the issues of transferring international credits to Barnard and advisers going on leave, to which administrators like Gretchen Young, dean for study abroad advising, proved responsive.
The Barnard College EcoReps frequently attended meetings and updated SGA on initiatives they planned. A concern over recycling centers, like those found in the basement of Altschul Hall, was raised constantly over the semester, with both SGA members and EcoReps resolving to put more such initiatives in the residence halls.
Interaction with administration proved key. Lisa Gamsu, Barnard’s vice president for administration and capital planning, noted that Sulzberger Tower will be empty this summer so that new floors can be put in, and the Diana will include study lounges like those now found in the first floor of Wollman Library inside Lehman Hall. Other on-campus locations will be changed: WBAR, the Barnard campus radio station, will possibly be moving and the second floor of Brooks Hall might become graduate-student housing. SGA also hoped to expand student understanding with the development of a series of videos about economic diversity on campus.
Sarah Besnoff, SGA president and BC ’09, will leave her administration in the hands of Katie Palillo, current vice president of communications and BC ’10.
Engineering Student Council
The Engineering Student Council oversaw a review of its constitution, opening up its closed-door internal elections for the public to sit in. While the elections themselves will happen behind closed doors—candidates are chosen for election by council members—ESC president Peter Valeiras, SEAS ’09, said the new measures will hopefully allow for more transparency between the council and its constituents, and give students the opportunity to participate in the discussion.
But overall, Valeiras said that making SEAS an overall warmer place was one of the council’s top priorities, as council members tried to brighten up Mudd and other engineering student haunts with a wider expanse of initiatives and activities.
Currently SEAS students are rarely allowed to pass/D/fail courses. Many SEAS students are clamoring for the option to uncover pass/D/fail grades as Columbia College students are currently allowed to do. While ESC plans to release a survey for SEAS students to weigh in, no conclusion had been drawn by the end of the year.
ESC also weighed in on the search for a new SEAS dean, a process that ended in the selection of University of Illinois professor Feniosky Peña-Mora to the post. Valeiras added that he hoped ESC involvement would help build better relationships between students and administrators.
Whitney Green, SEAS ’10, was recently elected ESC president.
General Studies Student Council
As the General Studies Student Council continues to press forward on long-term issues it has been grappling with for years—namely financial aid, housing, and parity—members said that council this year has laid the groundwork to effectively tackle these problems in the coming semesters.
Vice President of Communications Katherine Edwards, who was recently elected as next year’s president, said that this semester had seen major headway in the campaign for Latin diplomas for GS students after beginning to successfully appeal to alumni and solicit student support through petitions. Currently, GS students are issued diplomas in English, while CC students receive Latin diplomas.
GSSC has also made strides in publicizing the living conditions of GS students in University housing by documenting the rooms through photographs on their Web site, and gaining more than 80 additional beds for GS students this spring.
GSSC members have also pointed out the different facets of financial aid and debt burden for students—students with too many credits are also unable to get aid, they say, and the measurements of debt burden do not count those who drop out of school due to debt, and so may be underestimating the amount of debt General Studies students face.
Edwards wrote in an e-mail that GSSC adjusted its financial arrangement with the four councils, which would save them an estimated $30,000 next year. The ratio that GSSC pays into events on which all four councils collaborate has been lowered to better reflect the size of the school’s student body.
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