They had Magnolia Bakery cupcakes 2 years ago?? For DAD??

Well, Barnard’s SGA met again, this time to present the results of the Desserts After Dark Survey. Barnard Bureau Chief Dassi Karp was there to see if anything interesting would happen (spoiler alert, nope). Read on for some *fun* statistics and unsolicited opinions about how Rep Council should run their meetings.

Don’t get me wrong. I may be one of the biggest fans of the Desserts After Dark (DAD) survey out there. Collecting information, pie charts, and baked goods–what’s possibly not to like? The problem is the semesterly hour (or almost hour) spent reading the results. This is not the fault of the VP for Campus Affairs Hannah Stanhill, who runs the survey: she is required to give this presentation, and she did so dutifully and capably. This presentation, though, is just another in the long list of examples of how SGA wastes its external meeting time. The body has little grounds to be upset for not being taken seriously if most of their public-facing agenda involves drawn-out repetitive conversations and the reading of information that could have been shared in a short email or a nice set of infographics.

Rant aside, the survey did yield some interesting (if not at all surprising) results:

  • Many respondents marked that they use Instagram more frequently than other social media platforms. This was especially true among first-years. That surprised me, so I must not understand the ways of the youth.
  • 98.9% of respondents reported having used the Milstein Center at some point. Who are you, other 1.1%, and what do you do with your time?
  • Most respondents reported having trouble finding study seats in Milstein. Apparently we have yet to solve the space problem on campus. Let’s knock down Altschul next, see if that helps.
  • Students want the Milstein Center to be open for longer hours, especially from 12 to 1am on weekdays, and basically all mornings and evenings on weekends.
  • One-third of respondents were dissatisfied with the meal plan options.
  • 55% of respondents would make use of an organics collection bin if it was on the floor of their residence hall. 28% of respondents did not know what that is.
  • 80% of respondents have heard of Barnard’s Greek Games. 74% had not attended. (lesson: we should stop the Greek Games and have useful and interesting programming instead. Stop wasting my Student Activities fee.)

Photo via SGA Facebook