Pretty sure it doesn't get schmoozier

Bwog sent over CCSC Confidante, Angel Jiang, to the council’s last meeting of the year. 

CCSC wrapped up a dynamic year by discussing next year’s initiatives, the past year’s successes and controversies, ongoing developments, and puppies 2.0 (coming to a lounge near you on May 6th!). Aki Terasaki began the meeting with two applications from the elections board for a potentially paid CCIT position, coordinating between both CUIT and our student government to streamline CCSC’s interface and increase its online presence. CCIT, “responsible for the infrastructure, hardware, software, web publishing, on-line marketing, and software development/integration needs” of CC and SEAS certainly plays a critical role in revamping the online potential of the elections board, particularly with regard to e-voting. Board members also inquired about ways to become greener and increase job recruiting. Expect a slew of tech initiatives concerning CUIT and CCIT in the upcoming year.

Kenny Durell, USenator, did bring up funding issues with this year’s Bacchanal and the enigmatic $20,000 provided by CCSC in December 2012, which was never transferred to the Bacchanal committee. Payment for public safety and facilities, and whether or not there have been any checks at all on how they charge students for these required services, remains ambiguous as well. This became a contentious and confusing point during the meeting, once again underscoring the importance of communication between student groups.

Aki Terasaki recognizes that it has nevertheless been a “good year for communication,” enabling students to know what is happening with CCSC and link them to administrators . Essentially communication, especially through the platforms of town halls and cyberspace, has become a tool that Aki encourages the new board members and execs to prioritize. As of today, the CCSC website receives roughly 300 unique visitors daily–proof that “more students are involved and aware than ever before”. With big events like College Days, CU Healthy living, and other events emphasizing community building, student council requires a lot of publicity to get the student population involved.

Despite the many tongue-in-cheek references to the relevance (or perhaps irrelevance) of Student Government, CCSC rightfully prides itself on several successes this year from programming to policy. An internal assessment of the organization covered the redesign of student spaces, a holistic review of financial aid, a wait list system for classes, and an academic integrity task force, complete with a meeting with Dean Martinez. Additionally, Open Housing and New Courseworks are no longer mere pilot programs.

Aki, the self-proclaimed “proudest” of the representatives, listed off student council superlatives, of which Bwog’s favorites were “schmooziest”, “most bubbly and energetic”, “most likely to fight against the man”, “most contrarian”, and “most likely to win your heart, the hunger games, and the olympics”. It has been “the most exhilarating, most exhausting time” for our ever-diligent Student Council President. So although CCSC did express doubt about what “community” means for Columbia right now, the meeting ended with the introduction of our new board members and their focus for next year: community and communication. Until then, we await Aki’s final midnight email.

CCSC Superlatives Get Real via Wikimedia