At year's first CCSC meeting, talk of dining changes, drug policies

The Columbia College Student Council began the spring semester with a revamped website and a new list of priorities.

The council is likely to discuss reforming party and alcohol policies, the role of the Global Core requirement, and making the switch from CubMail to Gmail, said CCSC President Learned Foote, CC ’11.

In addition to voting on new resolutions, Foote said CCSC will continue to work with the administration on changes to the new meal plan.

In October, the council passed a series of recommendations asking Columbia Dining to reopen John Jay Dining Hall on weekends and revive the à la carte menu at JJ’s Place. Those suggestions followed changes, implemented last fall, that have been profitable for the University but, according to CCSC surveys, disappointing to students.

Foote said Dining will not negotiate reopening John Jay on weekends until March, when dining plans will be renewed and labor contracts with University employees run out.

“Changing what people had already bought didn’t seem like an option to Dining,” Foote said, when asked why the changes couldn’t be negotiated sooner.

Foote also announced that the Office of Multicultural Affairs is reaching out to the class councils to discuss the long-term effects of the December arrests of five Columbia students accused of selling drugs on campus.

“A lot of administrators are looking to work specifically with the councils. ... They want to talk about how are students treated in their dorms by RAs, how they are treated by the NYPD … to what degree does the judicial affairs process need to be transparent,” he said.

Despite the headline-grabbing drug bust, Foote said that the University is still very receptive to the “Good Samaritan” policy, a proposal the council passed last semester that would grant amnesty to people and organizations who call ambulances for friends in the presence of underage drinking or illegal drugs.

The council is working with the administration to finalize the language of that proposal, he said.

Andrew Nguyen, CC ’12 and vice president of policy for CCSC, said he hopes the council will take another shot at reforming party policies, specifically by making it easier for student groups to host events with alcohol.

Currently, the only student-run events that regularly sell alcohol are Lerner Pub and First Friday, both of which require two IDs to drink.

Last year’s vice president of policy, Sarah Weiss, CC ’10, said that CCSC had given up on trying to renegotiate party policies, even though CCSC was once a strong critic of the “War on Fun”—an alleged push by the University, beginning in 2007, to limit alcohol consumption, break up parties, and regulate events.

“There are restrictions—legal reasons—why students can’t drink. So we feel there are greater battles to be fought,” she told Spectator in December 2009, adding that those pushing for reform create unnecessary tension with the University.

Karishma Habbu, CC ’13 and vice president of communications, also unveiled a redesigned CCSC website with a Twitter feed.

“I’ve never tweeted before,” said Foote—an admission that was met with disbelief from fellow council members.

leah.greenbaum@columbiaspectator.com