Why does no one read our emails?

GSSC got heated up, but in a mild enough way. Romane Thomas was on hand to witness the combustive, creative energy of the Council, and reports back on newsletters, Spring Break, and snack attacks.

Yesterday night neither midterms nor the flu kept a reduced General Studies Student Council (GSSC) from talking awards, menus, and Owl analytics at its usual secret meeting place on the 5th floor of Lerner.

This week Jade Le-Cascarino announced that work was underway for the new GS Website and that a meeting with the GS Administration’s Communication Team has been set up this week. As the new VP of Communication, Le-Cascarino set out to reform the Weekly Owl. By reforming the old format, she was able to collect data on the views of the weekly newsletter. According to the analytics, last week’s weekly owl was read 67 times, 12 of which were “probably my own views”, Le-Cascarino stated. In order to centralize information from the GSSC, the communication team took the initiative to reattach the Weekly Liz to the Owl. Le Cascarino pointed out that “with the new analytics we can track the traction of the Owl” and thus be able to determine the impact of the information sent. VP of Policy Michael Neier stated that focusing on the analytics may be less important than actually “getting people to read the Owl.” That view was seconded by University Senator Katharine Celentano.

President Elizabeth Heyman introduced a new initiative to give out an award for best council member every week. After a short speech about the accomplishments of this week’s unnamed winner, Jade Le-Cascarino awarded the honor to Community Service Rep. Tyler Bechard for his outstanding participation in the council and his organization of the Supper Event at the Church of the Holy Trinity last Saturday. Bechard announced that over 100 suppers were served to homeless or near homeless individuals. He also declared that other events are planned for April, around the topic of sexual awareness, as April is Sexual Awareness Month.

VP of Finance Dalitso Nkhoma announced that GSSC had recently been given an extra $3,000. She explained that $500 would be given to Communications for additional snack attacks. The remaining $2,000 would go to the Senior Class budget and would be used to plan a Spring Break Event that will be announced soon. Nkhoma also stated that free electronic submissions to the New York Times have finally been made available and should be launched soon after Spring Break.

The Campus Life pole declared that the menu for the Gala was finalized. VP of Campus Life Dennis Zhao stated that most dietary needs were accounted for in the buffet-style dinner. He also mentioned that the tickets for the gala would be on sale on March 22 and March 23, and that the first round of tickets would be reserved for seniors. Zhao also thanked the council members for their help with the successful snack attack initiative and told the representative to “keep up the good work.”

Other updates:

• An upperclassmen kickball or softball game will be organized after Spring Break, stay tuned for details.
• Resource library: projectors and speakers are available for student groups every weekday from 4 to 5 pm. Any group wishing to use the resources must fill out a form that will be sent out shortly.
• The Council wished to remind the student body that the First Year and Senior Year Treasurer Positions were still open. The council looks forward to the applications.
• The Teaching Awards nomination form was sent out in the last Owl. VP of Policy Michael Neier reminded the council that the deadline for nominations is March 25 and that “we will be selecting recipients at the policy meeting that follows.”

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