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Reading these every Monday morning, courtesy of Joe Milholland, is basically being on a listerv to receive weekly info on CCSC; and since this is a Monday like any other read on for the latest CCSC has to offer. 

Sunday night at the Columbia College Student Council general body meeting, Class of 2015 Rep Ryan Rivera explained to the council a proposal he is working on about alumni giving to student groups. The proposal would institutionalize a process for student groups to solicit donations from alumni who were part of their groups. Groups would be allowed to only solicit alumni once per fiscal year, and there would be a strict process for applying. Groups that do not follow the guidelines would be banned for the year. The group must be recognized by one of the six governing boards to apply.

Rivera said that student groups, particularly frats and sororities, have been doing this for a while “under the table” with cash or checks. The proposed system will have groups solicit money through a gift account. Alumni that donated would be recognized donors.

The council also held a long discussion about listserv drama they had last Monday night, when a representative from The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore emailed the executive board. The show wanted two Columbia students to talk about university issues relating to “school shootings, sexual assault, and gun control.” CCSC President Peter Bailinson solicited possible candidates from among CCSC’s general body members who where responding to the listserv and from other groups on campus. He got 6 from CCSC and 3 from other groups, and then polled the council memers on whether they wanted to choose the students completely randomly or have one randomly picked from CCSC and another randomly picked among the other 3.

Halfway through the voting that night, someone pointed out that this selection process could lead to two men from Columbia talking about sexual assault. Bailinson then shut down the vote and started a new one with a third option of requiring one man and one woman. This choice won, and they submitted the names at 1 am. At noon, the person from the Nightly Show emailed Bailinson to say the story was going to be told from a different angle. The listserv had over 100 responses at the end of the night.

This incident sparked extensive debate at the council meeting over whether the e-board had the right to make a decision without consulting the general body on time-sensitive issues. VP of Finance Michael Li said that the eboard should share decision making with the council as much as possible. Class of 2016 President Saaket Pradham noted a lack of clarity in the listserv. University senator Marc Heinrich said that the council’s rules couldn’t accommodate for every possibility, and senator Jared Odessky that the gender issue made Bailinson’s decision justifiable. “Two-thirds of the people sitting in this room are men,” said Odessky about the council making decisions about gender issues.

In a straw poll, 17 council members thought that it made sense for the e-board to make time-restricted decisions about issues that did not directly affect university policym, and 10 though that it made more sense for the general body to make the decision. VP of Campus Life Andrew Ren questioned whether the council should be spending so much time on listserv drama.

Ren also gave an update on College Days at the meeting. The College Days website is up at columbiacollegedays.com. The opening ceremony on Lit Hum Day will have several acapella groups as well as several speakers, such as Dean Kromm and Director of the Core Roosevelt Montás. There will also be free stuff given away over the week, such as lap top sleeves, LED alarm clocks, phone wallets, water bottles, t-shirts, and tank tops.

Updates:

• The Policy Committee is still looking into late paychecks. Those getting payments throught direct deposits sometimes get paychecks late or not at all, and people who receive paychecks in the mail sometimes get them 3-4 weeks late. VP of Communications Abby Porter is working on a survey about this issue.
• According to Student Services Rep Chris Godshall, Housing is trying to get room & board payments from students increased about $30 a semester in order to provide free laundry. “Unless you don’t do laundry, you’re going to save money,” said Godshall about the possibility of this change.
• Heinrich has secured one student senator to be involved in the budgeting process along with the Board of Trustees and other senators.
• JJ’s Place will have extended hours soon this semester as a test. There will be no additional cost to students.

• Major Deceleration for sophomores is Wednesday from 5 to 7:30pm in McBain lounge.

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