Amy Chen

To the Editor:
The editorial "Unsung Heroes" (2/22/10) was clear in urging the Columbia University community to nominate their Barnard peers in nontraditional leadership roles for Student Government Association Leadership Awards. The editorial made a glaring error, however, in stating that administrators issue the awards. SGA Leadership Awards are wholly peer-nominated. The SGA Leadership Awards Dinner Committee plans and executes the Student Leadership Dinner each April at Barnard. At the dinner, the Committee presents the awards to Barnard students, staff, administrators, administrative departments, and SGA-recognized clubs. SGA Leadership Awards celebrate and honor all types of student leaders on campus—the only thing SGA asks for is your participation in the nomination process which is open until 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25. Please visit www.barnard.edu/sga for the nomination form.

Amy Chen, Barnard College ‘10
Chair, Student Leadership Dinner Awards Committee
VP of Student Activities, SGA

Do I want to live on campus? How much will housing prices increase by next year? Should I live with someone? With whom should I live? Where should I live? Where do my friends want to live? Do I want a meal plan if I don't live in a suite with a kitchen? If I am planning to study abroad, will I still get housing when I return? Many of these questions flood the minds of students as they plan to live in on-campus housing in the school year ahead.

As a senior at Barnard, I am a member of the only class on campus that has experienced both the vibrancy of student life in McIntosh (Mac) and the seemingly endless years of construction for the Diana Center. Still, I eagerly look forward to my final semester with the Diana Center. As students consider the new, recently announced meal plan policy, I would like to bring attention to several points that come from my personal experience as a Barnard student.   The food available in Mac's Java City and the lower level dining café was great. I remember the options were more gourmet than what Hewitt and Java City currently serve. Mac's food was known to be fresh-prepared, and the many varieties of thin-crust pizza were very popular. There used to be a pay-per-pound salad bar, sushi take-out, soups, a panini/sandwich/wrap station, and an "action station" for pasta, Asian stir-fry, and more. I imagine that the Diana Center's food will be better than Mac's because of the brand new cooking facilities there. Any concerns about what specific types of food that will/should be served can be directed to SGA's Food Advisory Board, which was created in October 2009. The board brings together students and administrators from Barnard's Dining Services to suggest changes or additions to the current food available. The Food Advisory Board also discusses concerns about food pricing on our campus.   Besides providing access to better food for the Barnard community, the new mandatory meal plan will help alleviate the tremendous overcrowding of Hewitt Dining Hall during peak hours. In my first year, the lines to get into Hewitt, the lines to get food at Hewitt, and the lines at Java City were never as long as they currently are now. The required meal plans will drive traffic to the Diana, which will make it more comfortable for both those who choose to eat in Hewitt and for those who eat in the new Diana Center cafés. Also, in the Diana Center, people are free to move around with their food after they have purchased it—there are numerous lounge spaces throughout the building where people can eat.   Furthermore, the policy will bring benefits to housing selection. Currently, sophomores, juniors and seniors feel they are being forced out of singles because of the unlimited meal plan requirement for all Quad residents. The new plan will now make Hewitt single rooms more appealing for sophomores, juniors, and seniors whose number-one priority in housing is a single room. Hewitt singles will now be comparable to Sulzberger Tower singles.  To address the issue of financial aid—the cost of the meal plan will be factored into every financial aid package; the new policy is supposed to guarantee that all students, regardless of socioeconomic background, have access to quality food on campus. Barnard is a school committed to never losing a student based on financial background, and this will not change.  Considering the long-term goal of community-building, I think this meal plan policy is worth trying with that ideal in mind. As someone who works for Barnard's admissions office, I've heard that Barnard's biggest appeal to prospective students is the close, tight-knit community here. I support the new meal plan policy because I believe that it will accomplish the long-term goal of creating a close community in which students, faculty, administrators, staff, alumnae, and the greater University will all be able to share and identify with a space that defines Barnard. The Diana Center will have classrooms, event spaces, offices, and studios, but these are all spaces that are specific to particular groups on campus. It will be the dining facilities in the building that are open to all who associate with the Barnard community. It will be through this interaction—the running into a classmate while getting coffee, the study sessions over lunch with floormates, the catching up with that person you met during NSOP whom you haven't seen since—that will truly develop our sense of belonging and provide us with the opportunity to socialize and learn from each other. It is important to keep in mind that this is an initiative to create community; we need to try it out before we completely shut it down. The author is a Barnard College senior majoring in economics. She is vice president of student activities on the Student Government Association of Barnard College. The author has submitted this piece independently—the views expressed in this op-ed do not necessarily represent those of SGA.