it’s January, bring on the furry friends.

Last night, GSSC met in the Satow room on Lerner’s fifth floor and, among other things, efficiently voted on a new budget.

VP of Finance Jacob Case went through the new budget of this spring semester. He explained that the budget had increased due to an unexpected rise of student numbers. With this new cash influx of $13,000, the finance pole will work to strengthen its financial relationship with the other undergraduate schools. Case pointed out that GS’s relationship with other schools was severely damaged by continued attempts to pay less for events. In fact, it seems that whilst GS Finance has been paying for 16% of four school events, GS Campus Life calculated their budget by using 19% as a marker of GS participation. Case expressed a wish to remediate this discrepancy in the following year. Accordingly, this new influx of money will be used to reestablish partnerships. Case also pointed out that the money left over from that would be allocated to reimbursing the student who apparently paid for the 2016 class gift, to co-sponsorships and to a small emergency fund.

Campus Life VP Brett Krasner gave an overview of the events planned for the semester. The Save The Date for gala will be coming up this sunday night along with the announcement of the theme (Harry Potter plz). Krasner also expressed a wish to plan a groundhog day celebration. A volunteering opportunity at the church on 114th and Broadway will soon be announced on Facebook as well as a “GS Week” from March 2 to March 9. There may be puppies!! During this GS Week, a Ted talk conference style will be organized where students are able to nominate their favorite deans and faculty to speak. Krasner asked that all who wish to nominate a dean send an email to gsscevents@columbia.edu. Krasner also mentioned the recent student deaths in the Columbia community and urged all members of council to “keep an eye out for themselves and friends.”

Next up, student leader Erin Giventer made a speech to the council regarding the Mid-Semester Success Series, or Mid-SSS. She pointed out that students had expressed a wish to meet their council members during this week. She also pointed out that this semester the success series would try to include more demographics and to propose healthier foods. She wished for GSSC and the Mid-SSS to collaborate on some new projects for the series. She also pointed out that the Mid-SSS is different from orientation as it departs from “factual academic sessions to more social and mental health wellness and community building initiatives.” She stated that she would come back with a more detailed co-sponsorship proposal for the council to discuss and approve.

In other news,

• A new chief of policy should be appointed by next week to start on the constitutional review.
• GSSC members volunteered to help restock tampons and pads for the four council initiative.
• GSSC is trying to get GS’ers swipe access to buildings they frequently use.
• Communications is setting up an application for council members to vote online.

Putin with a puppy via wikimedia