Beyoncé is our lead Bacchanal artist! (just kidding lol)

Last night, Bwog GSSC Bureau Chiefs Jennie Nugent & Romane Thomas attended GSSC’s last meeting of the semester. We’ll be back with more GSSC updates after break!

The General Studies Student Council has been working on several projects throughout the semester, and the final meeting of 2016 was a celebration of all that the council had accomplished, as well as a chance to look at improvements and new initiatives for the spring semester.

• The subcommittee for students with disabilities hosted their awareness event last Saturday. Students reported that the event was a great way to open up the conversation about addressing disabilities on campus, and to increase awareness of the resources Columbia provides to its students. There was also a panel discussion to facilitate understanding. The subcommittee hopes to make this a semesterly event, so expect another event in the spring!
• In GS Food Bank news, Michael Higgins reported that council has reached out to the community to aid food insecurity, and that progress is being made on making this a school-wide initiative.
• Finance revealed that the first female lead artist at Bacchanal this year is lined up. While names cannot be released until all of the details are ironed out, GSSC did reveal that the artist is not, in fact, Beyoncé.
• Next, President Julian LaRosa mentioned that next semester would see work on the food bank (contact Michael Higgins at mh3218@columbia.edu for more information) and a constitutional review to update the rules and regulations governing our esteemed council. If only Mike Neier could be here to see/edit/memorize it…

• Dennis Zhao announced that the communication team is wrapping up work on the website, and is looking towards creating an app for mobile devices to improve communications between council and the student population.
• Senator Ramond Curtis also thanked Columbia Counseling and Psychological Services for working diligently and collaboratively to improve student interactions with CPS. In addition, GSSC plans to continue to work with CPS and push to ensure more counselors are hired for CPS to better serve the students.
• Despite finals commencing this week, council is still planning a host of social and career-related events for students, all of which can be found on GSSC’s Facebook page.
• Snack Attacks will return between December 12th and the 15th, and the menu spans from Malaysian cuisine to Texan barbecue. Unfortunately, though, there will be NO puppies in the GS lounge this finals season, causing an audible gasp throughout the room (and most notable from a few reporters…).
• Finally, members of CCSC came to present a pilot program that will place tampons and pads in different bathrooms throughout school. This would benefit those who cannot afford feminine hygiene products on a regular basis as well as those who are rudely surprised when unprepared. After a heated debate (led largely by men), council tried to find a way to contribute to the sponsorship without feeling out-of-place, as a few of the buildings lack GS access. Brett Krasner jumped in by saying that he thought the conversation should be led by a woman on council, as this issue would more directly impact them, promptly passing the mic to those who had a vested interest in this movement. GSSC did end up passing the proposal on the condition that a distribution center would be included.

After the official business was over, council took a moment to say goodbye to Mike, who is graduating this year, and to eat fried chicken. Thanks to GSSC for all of their hard work this semester!

Queen B via radio.com