No more two to a desk

Sean Zimmermann reports from last night’s ESC meeting.

SEAS Dean Pena-Mora attended last night’s ESC meeting. The Dean began by thanking ESC for their letter in support of his administration, which the council sent to the Spectator last December. Pena-Mora pledged to “continue to ensure that you [all] have the best education experience that anyone could have.”

The Dean announced that a committee on undergraduate education (the same group that revamped Gateway last year), is looking into ways to make it easier for students within SEAS to take classes outside their major for credit. In general, SEAS is considered more restrictive than the college about classes can be taken outside your major track for credit.

In response to a question about class crowding, the Dean responded that this year the school has done a better job of pairing class sizes to specific classrooms, and, as a result, the crowding issues have been partially resolved. He commented that the hardest classes to accommodate are the 4000-level classes, which include both undergraduate and graduate students. He also said the school may have to discuss breaking the graduate and undergraduate students into separate classes, though he stressed that this is just one idea, and nothing has been decided.

Logan Donovan, ESC VP Policy, announced that the transfer student acceptance date is being moved up so that decisions are mailed out before final exams at other institutions. Logan explained that, as a transfer, she was accepted after her own finals at UVA ended, so she never had an opportunity to say goodbye to her friends at her old institution. She also announced that she is trying to institute a chat system for prospective transfer students to speak to current transfer students at Columbia.

Very close children via Wikimedia Commons

The first ever ESC meeting

Sean Zimmermann reports from the first ESC meeting of the semester.

The council began the evening by holding elections for VP Communications. The election was well-contested, especially considering it was held mid-year. The winner, Jim Huang, spoke about his experience on ABC and how his experience developing websites could help in council outreach. He beat Lauren Hsu and current SGA liaison Tanya Shah.

ESC President Levick recently spoke with Dean Pena-Mora, and explained that the Dean is working with the faculty to resolve the issues reported last semester. In the fall, he created the position of Executive Vice-Dean, held by Donald Goldfarb, to act as a intermediary between the faculty and the Dean’s office. Additionally, Pena-Mora told President Levick that the Dean’s office hired an outside consultant to help assess the situation with the faculty, and that they are discussing his recommendations. The Dean came under fire last semester from faculty for failing to address a number of faculty concerns, including addressing overcrowding in classes.

CCSC will no longer be holding mandatory regular meetings, according to CCSC Liaison Rebecca Frauzem. The meetings will be optional for CCSC members, and the council will be holding more town halls instead. President Levick assured council members that CCSC still exists; the idea is that meetings will be more like “office hours” for students.

Intrepid miners via Wikimedia Commons 

A theoretical depiction of a Bacchanal concert held in Butler Library

Sean Zimmermann emerged from his home in Mudd to bring us this report of the final ESC meeting for the semester.

ESC opened with a presentation by Columbia College Senator Kenny Durell, who spoke on the recent Bacchanal Inquiry. Durell explained that UEM and Commencement, during a meeting in late March, determined that there would not be a conflict between Commencement and Bacchanal last year.

Though Bacchanal was not informed that they would need to move the event from Low Plaza to the lawns until April 19th, the move was not triggered by early commencement setup (as many believed), but due to safety concerns. Public Safety explained that, after analyzing previous Snoop Dogg concerts, they predicted an abnormally large attendance, and were concerned there would not be enough space to safely hold the event on Low Plaza. In hindsight, the event drew 8,000 attendees, so Public Safety’s concerns appear to have been justified. Durell explained the event would not have fit on Low Plaza.

However, security and facilities fees are not assessed until June. In general, public safety and facilities are not required to give exact costs before a student event. They give an estimate, then charge after the event. Facilities and securities fees were not billed to Bacchanal until June, at which time Bacchanal learned that the concert cost $25,421 more than expected, of which, $16,107 was due to the move itself, and the rest was due to additional security costs.

In non-Bacchanal news, the council also encourages students to use the newly created study spaces on the 5th and 6th floor of Butler, explaining that if they are not used during finals, the space will be closed down.

Revelry via Wikimedia Commons

Mmm...compost

Sean Zimmermann reports from last night’s ESC meeting.

Just like that, the powers of CUIT that giveth and taketh have upgraded all student accounts from 250 MB to 1 GB, meaning you’ll now have more room for messages. The increased quota should be visible in the top bar of the CubMail page once you log in. As one CUIT official told us, you can also request additional space by emailing askcuit@columbia.edu.

While we previously showed you how to make the switch to Gmail, the upgrade is a much welcomed improvement for those bent on keeping the simpler interface. Last we heard from student council, CUIT is reportedly transitioning to Gmail once it can meet ADA criteria. In the meantime, what do you plan on doing with all the extra space? Finally send that Lit Hum video you made to all your Core professors? Or continue uploading those supplemental readings you’ll never get to anyway?

They're ready for Mario Kart...are you?

Bwog’s all-star ESC correspondent Sean Zimmerman gives you the skinny on the continued push for video games in student spaces. 

Remember last week’s ESC proposal for video games in Lerner? In case you’ve forgotten, council member William Cybriwsky presented a revolutionary solution to Lerner’s oft-lamented boringness—rentable video game systems for use with Lerner’s televisions.

Well, it looks like his idea was so lovely that Columbia Dining Services has decided to steal it. Instead of installing video game systems in Lerner, JJ’s Place will be ordering Nintendo GameCube systems, controllers, and copies of Mario Kart that should be ready to play in the coming weeks. Just think, in a short while, you could be hanging out with friends, munching on chicken fingers, and playing video games in JJ’s. It’s still a far cry from John Jay Pub, but hey, we’ll take it.

Krazy karters from Flickr/PopCultureGreek.com

Artist's rendering of Lerner, circa 2012

Sean Zimmermann gives the scoop on the latest dealings of the math-ier side of student government.

Council member William Cybriwsky gave a presentation on how it would cost a mere $123 to purchase a video game system (with games and four controllers) that could be checked out for student use in Lerner. According to his master plan to make Lerner, well, fun, students or groups would be able to rent video game systems from the front desk, and connect them to the televisions in Lerner—which he claims are not being used “effectually” (they are currently used to broadcast information from the student councils. We’ll leave it to you to decide how effective they are…). Ideally, this would turn Lerner from that place you go for mail and meetings into that place you go for mail and meetings and then stay at to play Mario Kart for five hours.

Much more effective use of Ferris Booth’s second floor via Wikimedia Commons

ESC gathers to listen to the wise words of the dean

Sean Zimmermann gives you the scoop from last night’s ESC meeting.

• Dean Peña-Mora spoke to the council last night in search of student feedback. He first clarified that the Engineering Library in Mudd is not closing. The new Northwest Corner Building library does not have many books (it’s a “library for the 21st century”), but it will not replace the current Engineering Library.
• Peña-Mora next explained that Columbia’s bid for the city’s $100 million engineering school grant was “at the printer.” Earlier this year, Mayor Bloomberg promised a location and funding for “infrastructure upgrades” to a selected university’s proposal “to build or expand a ‘world-class’ science and engineering campus in New York City.”
• When asked about the new Gateway program, Peña-Mora detailed that the current course was created based on recommendations of a special committee, and will be an “evolutionary process.” While “there will be changes over the next two years,” all engineering school classes are under constant review and the current Gateway course “is not a pilot.”

Read more…

Sean Zimmermann reports from last night’s Engineering Student Council Meeting.

• Bacchanal President Daniel Weinstein presented the group’s financial status to ESC, pleading that their current financial problems are the fault of university administration. As it stands, their budget is $38,000 less than it was last year. Bacchanal has already canceled its Fall concert (which costs $14,000) due to lack of funds.
• ESC voted to conditionally fund Bacchanal $18,000 in ratio ($2,980 from ESC) pending an the results of a student-run audit into whether the problem was actually due to administrative error or poor planning by Bacchanal. The proposal is intended to allow Bacchanal to have a minimum budget so they can negotiate contracts. If the administration was at fault, and does partially reimburse Bacchanal, then the amount provided by the councils will be reduced accordingly.
• VP Policy Logan Donovan reported that a new computer will be installed in the Lerner Package Center. This should increase the number of students that can pick up packages simultaneously. In theory.

Upgrade that might actually decrease Package Center efficiency via Wikimedia Commons

Sean Zimmermann reports from last night’s ESC meeting.

• The Mudd Engineering Library is slated to be closed and replaced with classrooms. Volumes stored in the Mudd library will be relocated to the library in NoCo. It is unclear when this transition will occur.
• VP Policy Logan Donovan explained that the 3rd party vendor that provides mail/package services (IKON) is set to be renewed this year. All the vendors bidding for the position will be asked how they will address the long lines, the long delays between package delivery and student availability, and how they will resolve the split package pickup between Carman and Lerner.
• Logan also reported that the mail services contract is actually a secondary part of a larger on-campus contract–IKON also provides printer and copier leases on campus. Historically, IKON usually focuses their efforts on that contract, and thus does not put as much effort into fighting for the mail contract.
• Senator Tim Qin reported that senators from all schools are working on getting course evaluations available to students. Some past SEAS class evaluations are available through http://oracle.seas.columbia.edu. The proposal would create a similar system for all classes in all schools.
• President Levick has been speaking with Dean Peña-Mora about how to make Mudd’s Carlton Lounge a more appealing study space. Council members proposed getting less wobbly furniture and increasing the amount of space left open after the attached cafeteria closes.

Update: Bwog received the following statement from engineering librarian Danianne Mizzy:
This information is incorrect and there are no plans to close the Monell Engineering Library.

Photo tipped by WMC

And the winners are in!

The new ’15 representatives on the Engineering Student Council are—
President: Joshua Boggs
Vice President: Shensi Ding
Representatives: Manali Yavatkar and Eddie Zahrebelski

ESC sat down for a chat. Sean Zimmermann got to watch.

• Reminder: FRESHMAN ESC ELECTIONS END AT NOON! Vote Here!
• VP—Policy Logan Donovan called for council members to help her work on current CCE improvements. She urged members to “remember their campaign promises.” Accountability!
• CCSC Liaison Linda Sun resigned. The GSSC liaison, Rebecca Frauzen, has resigned from her position, and was elected the new CCSC liaison. The GSSC liaison position is now open, and interested engineering students can email their class council. Assuming their class council doesn’t resign first.
• President Nate Levick reported that the promised EC turnstiles will not be installed until next summer. Sorry seniors. And Barnard.

Die gute alte Zeit via Wikimedia Commons

Your nascent student council

Brief headlines from last nights council meetings. Sean Zimmermann reports from the first Engineering Student Council session:

• During the summer, recently elected Academic Affairs Representative Huili Zhu notified President Nate Levick that she would not be able to carry out her duties as the Academic Affairs representative in the coming year. The President invited runner up, Dong-Yoon “Tom” Yang, if he would still be interested in the position, subject to the council’s approval. The vote passed, and Yang was elected.
• Senior Class President Judy Kim reported that, if you were unable to RSVP for the Dean’s Senior Class Engineering reception on Wednesday, you can still pick up your free “gift” (it’s a surprise!) at a later date.

Meanwhile, over at Barnard’s Student Government Association, the following items were addressed:

• Those intending to run for first year elections had to declare today. Voting will open after Wednesday’s candidate forum and run until Monday at noon.
• The Barnard Activities Fair is this Friday, from 12-3. Any clubs or governing boards that would like a table should email the SGA.
• McAC, the Barnard Programming Board, discussed the upcoming Founder’s Day (Oct 11th) and possibility that students will need to swipe in to access the Founder’s Day and Spirit Day BBQs (i.e. no more free food). SGA is trying to find solution to keep these events open to everyone as they traditionally have been.
• Maya Zinkow, Campus Programming Rep, confirmed that SGA reps will be serving breakfast to freshladies in the quad on October 16th.

This is where the magic happens...

In case you forgot already, here is what student government is supposed to do. We asked the newly-elected president of each of the three councils to introduce themselves, and list the five most important things that they actually achieved last year. You too can be Barack Obama!

Greetings from Jessica Blank, President of SGA

Welcome to Barnard! I hope you had a great summer and are excited for an amazing year! Although campus may seem overwhelming at first, you’ll quickly learn about Barnard traditions like Midnight Breakfast, Greek Games and Spirit Day, what all those acronyms stand for and to read Bwog and Spec to stay updated on campus happenings.

You will also soon discover all the incredible opportunities Barnard offers, both on campus and around NYC, one of which is SGA, Barnard’s Student Government Association. There are so many ways to get involved, from first year class council (elections will take place in the first two weeks of school) to the many SGA committees (check out the SGA website for openings!)

If you have any questions about Barnard, SGA or just want to have coffee and chat, feel free to email me at jab2262@barnard.edu

So enjoy NSOP, take full advantage of the seemingly awkward events because the people sitting next to you may be your closest friends for the next four years, and I can’t wait to see all of you on campus!

SGA Accomplishments 2010-11

• Greek Life Recognition- After holding a campus wide survey, SGA voted to recognize and fund Greek life on campus.
• Campus Wide Smoking Ban- working with the administration and with the support of students on campus, SGA instituted a campus wide smoking ban.
• Consitutional Review- Every three years, an SGA committee is formed to review the current SGA constitution and make any necessary changes. This year’s committee established several new SGA committees including the SGA Programming Committee and Student Art Committee and instituted several policy changes.
• Thanksgiving with Alumni- In an effort to connect current Barnard students with Alumnae, SGA established the “Thanksgiving with Alumni” program which paired Barnard students with alumnae living in the New York area to spend Thanksgiving with.
• Return of the Greek Games- SGA, in collaboration with McAC and with the full support of the college offices, organized the return of the Greek Games, one of Barnard’s most beloved traditions. Check out pictures from the event.

Greetings from Nate Levick, President of ESC

Class of 2015, welcome to your new home! Welcome to New York City, welcome to Morningside Heights, and most importantly, welcome to Columbia! We all may be from different backgrounds, but as Columbians, we all share a home here on our lovely campus. The Engineering Student Council welcomes you and wishes you the best of luck in embarking on this exciting new journey in your life. You will experience so many thrilling opportunities and meet so many great people here at Columbia, especially during your first few weeks! Know that there will always be a huge network of support for you along this journey, including the Engineering Student Council. We will be here to represent our students, listen to your voices, and work to provide you with the best experience possible. So, welcome to your new home. Welcome to your new best friends. Welcome to new opportunities around every turn. And again, most importantly, welcome to Columbia!

Read more…

food trucks. Bwog knows it can be difficult to keep track, so to ease your bureaucracy-induced agitation is Bwog’s CCSC correspondent Brian Wagner, here to untangle the web that is Columbia’s undergraduate student government.”>

Alexander Hamilton, an alum, founded SGA.

Bright young things: in the next few weeks you will be introduced to a dizzying array of organizations, acronyms, slang, and food trucks. Bwog knows it can be difficult to keep track, so to ease your bureaucracy-induced agitation is Bwog’s CCSC correspondent Brian Wagner, here to untangle the web that is Columbia’s undergraduate student government.

The Senate and The Councils

Columbia University Senate

The Senate is Columbia’s überlegislature, and a testament to the fact that we were the first University with a formal bureaucracy. The unwieldy body represents “faculty, students, and other constituencies.” The plenary meetings of the Senate take place roughly once per month throughout the academic year.

Hyperbole aside, here are the cold hard facts: The Senate has 108 voting seats, with 63 reserved for faculty, 24 for students, 6 for officers of research, 2 each for administrative staff, librarians, and alumni, and 9 for senior administrators including the president, who chairs monthly plenaries.

Action on the Senate floor may not seem as immediate as that in meetings of your Student Council (or Government Association—hey Barnard!), but these heirs of Webster and Calhoun get to weigh in on some of the Columbia community’s most pressing issues: from the lively and sometimes rowdy return of ROTC to the much-discussed-outside-Butler smoking ban, the budget-monitoring resolution on fringe benefits for university officers, and “rules governing political demonstrations.”

Read more…