The past guides the future.

“That was a silly meeting, but we got some good things done.” – Prezbu. That pretty well sums it up.

Representatives from the Columbia College Alumni Association and Columbia College Young Alumni stopped by to update and solicit feedback from the council. Two alumni affairs-related issues they’ve noted are 1) that there’s a barrier between students and alumni and 2) why the hell do people say they’re gonna come to alumni events and then not come to events?! Guys. Not cool. They’ll be pursuing these further in the upcoming months.

While some councils are splitting up, others are considering unification. Last night council members heard a presentation from President-Elect Daphne Chen on a resolution that would create a task force to explore a merger of CCSC & ESC.

The exploration was justified given the many “synergies” that exist between the SEAS and CC student body: they live in the same dorms, eat at the same dining halls, share some of the same administrators, etc. Per the current system, the resolution says, “there are a number of inefficiencies in the current student governance structure” that unification could streamline.

The proposed exploratory task force would be comprised of 6-8 students including the student body presidents of CCSC and ESC, VPs Policy for CCSC and ESC, one member from SEAS and CC student bodies not currently on either council (who would be chosen by their respective student body presidents), and lastly, a point not included in the original resolution, two council members (one from ESC and one from CCSC) who would be appointed based on application.

There was some concern whether GSSC should be brought into the discussion. After all, GSSC does share much more academic similarity with CC than SEAS. Wouldn’t this further the rift between CC/SEAS and GS? Nevertheless, the so-called “synergies” that exist between CC and SEAS trumped those that exist between CC and GS, as well as the fact that the GS council itself apparently operates quite differently from either CCSC or ESC. The resolution passed 27-1.

Steven Castellano had yet another starring role on the council’s agenda, this time presenting on academic integrity, a campaign he’s led along with Committee on Instruction representative Bob Sun. Castellano will present the full resolution next week, but wanted to jumpstart conversation so that it wouldn’t drag on (and on) during next meeting. Essentially, the policy would have two parts: the pledge, which would be said during convocation, other communal events, and which people would write in a large book (a compendium, to keep the C-theme going), and the code, which would be the actual rules.

Ideally, the code would also appear on syllabi and blue books, however that posed a problem since Barnard has its own code yet students take the same exams. A lot of the conversation was tabled until next week when Castellano and Sun can find out more about the blue book situation and whether GS and SEAS would be interested in adopting this code/pledge as well.

Updates:

Class of 2016 will hold a class picnic, as will Class of 2014

2015 has two upcoming lunches, one with Dean Shollenberger and the other with Dean Martinez

2013 is hosting a swim test event for seniors on Friday where they’ll be giving out rubber duckies