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The Study Day-Standoff: Last night’s CCSC meeting saw unanimous passage of a proposal to start the academic year a week earlier when Labor Day falls on September 5th or later. The passage was the first step by the councils towards forming a united undergraduate front in advance of Friday’s University Senate Plenary, in the face of what council members called “intractable” opposition from the Senate Education Committee. The proposal next goes to the other three undergraduate councils, where it’s expected to be passed, before debate begins on the proposal in the Senate on Friday. Senate sources told Bwog not to expect a vote on Friday however.
The New Meal Plan: As part of his visit to CCSC, VP for Student and Administrative Services Scott Wright announced a new meal plan for next year. The important points:
- First-year meals will be by week rather than by term (either 19 or 15 per week)
- JJ’s and Ferris will join John Jay as all-you-can-eat for the price of one meal, with the latter being open from 7:30 am – 8:00 pm six days of the week
- The number of meals will go up, but Dining Dollars will decline significantly, to no more than $200 per semester
- In total, students will be limited to four meals per day – “and after that,” Wright said, “we’ll send you to a vending machine.”
Part of the reason for the change is that business at on-campus eateries like Ferris and JJ’s has suffered as off-campus Flex spending has topped $2 million this year. The full plan is available at Dining’s website.
Odds and Ends: Wright also noted that the adminstration is doing its best to hold down tech costs for student groups in the face of rising A/V fees; he suggested possibly building a list of equipment students could be trained to use instead of having to hire labor…The council voted to look at developing Schapiro’s lounge for future student group space…The first Core Curriculum conversation will be on April 9th, and will look at the Global Core…PrezBo will hold a special booksigning for undergrads on April 20th.
– JCD
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@Imagine how crowded its going to get with all the Barnard required meal plans coming to Ferris/JJ.
Who the hell would go to John Jay over JJ’s and Ferris Booth?
@Sean Manning Udell, re: Minimum Purchases No, it won’t stay at $14 for entering any of these places. Dean Wright said that the cost per swipe (if you don’t have a meal plan) will be about $7, though I expect it to be more like $10. $7 seems like a low-ball estimate to me, and Wright also mentioned that meal plans are partially subsidized by people who swipe in w/o a meal plan.
@Why? JJ’s closing at Midnight is like 1020 being open form 8am-noon. It defies all logic
@Agreed I feel ashamed to go to JJ’s before midnight…it’s like day drinking
@minimum purchase so essentially this is a minimum purchase for attending JJ’s or Ferris. Thats such bullshit. It cant stay at 14 dollars/meal can it?
@hmm will we still be able to buy single items like salad or sushi for a smaller price?
@For Barnard students... ..this plan has some interesting positives and negatives. On one hand, given our meal plan requirement, this plan encourages us to choose a meal-heavy meal plan since it’ll let us eat at Ferris and JJ’s Place, while our ‘points’ will not. However, 2 million dollars less income for local restaurants will likely shut some of them down, which would reduce options for both Columbia AND Barnard students. Overall? I wish Columbia wasn’t doing this, because the neighborhood means more to me than having more choices of places where I can use my meals.
@dude Sweetie, don’t worry your pretty little head. Off-campus restaurants existed way before Flex.
@cc'13 you’re absolutely right, but could you be any more of a patronizing ass?
@yes He could have made the above comment while slapping her ass.
@Mel And calling her sugar tits.
@seas kid questions:
1. does all-you-can-eat jj’s mean all-you-can-eat chicken tenders?
2. will jj’s still have groceries, drinks, red bull, and such?
3. is there any other option for jj’s/ferris than a meal swipe?
this is a horrible, horrible plan. and jj’s closes at midnight. wtffffff
but then again, i’m graduating.
@AV What? How does student training address the costs of getting whatever AV equipment in the first place? And is Wright talking about Lerner or campus-wide AV?
@Nuriel Moghavem He’s talking about Lerner AV.
The idea is to take some of the equipment currently being operated by the overworked Lerner staff (Wright’s tired of paying overtime and for temp labor, I’m sure) and train students to use it for free.
There seems to be literally no catch here except the time to be trained. One thing to remember, though, is that Wright said it was only an idea at this point; I’d keep an eye out for issues of liability especially to cause a speed-bump or two before implementation.
@Anonymous (Curious, looks at Lerner website for their AV pricing. Says to self: WTF?)
It’s now $18/hr? It used to be $15/hr, and you can do as little as one hour. The tech him/herself gets $10 of that. (Though I concede though that the “Set-up and Strike” one time charge seems fair.)
In the beginning, Lerner AV used to consist of an army of students, each with varying levels of commitment, all on payroll. Then it went through a couple of regime changes, cut the number of students, hired non-Columbia people, etc etc. Why? Because Lerner is a corporate conference center that just happens to host student events. They make more money getting outside groups to use Lerner for business meetings and conferences and bar mitzvahs.
@A/V As it stands right now, to have any A/V in Lerner, you need to hire Lerner tech which is a combination of students and full time employees. Lerner tech is expensive already and the more tech you need the more it costs. Also for events such as dance showcases or theatrical performances, you have to hire Lerner tech for every rehearsal and every performance which means that those groups have significantly less money to spend on other production items such as good mics or costumes or sets (God forbid a student performance other than V-Show can have a set). If Lerner trained students to work the A/V equipment then let them do it independently as opposed to being hired as Lerner tech, those groups could cut down of a lot of fees.
As to your second question, I have no idea but it would be great if he meant everywhere.
@really, dining, really fuck you, dining. really.
@also confused “First-year meals will be by week rather than by term (either 19 or 15 per week)”
Does this mean unused meals expire after the week is over? Why is this a good thing?
@Bad for us but good for dining services. if meals don’t roll over, then we (theoretically) need a more expensive meal plan!
@confused So if Ferris becomes all-you-can-eat, does that mean sushi will still be there? Or will the food be John Jay food? I only go to Ferris for the sushi but dang it’s expensive.