CCSC kept it short and sweet this week with the busyness of election season in mind, but still managed to vote on a proposal by Class Representative Brandon Shi (CC ’22).

Given that ballot submissions including headshots, biographies, and platforms were due Sunday, CCSC EBoard was sympathetic to incumbents’ busy schedules of campaigning and working on current initiatives and kept this week’s meeting brief.

VP Policy Rads Mehta updated us of her progress on her investigation into the New York Times subscription service. Despite reports from students to VP Mehta that their free subscription service had ceased, after communicating with the Times about the issue, she discovered that the service was continuing through August of 2021. Soon VP Mehta will be meeting with housing administrators about their plans to include entertainment streaming services subscriptions with housing, at which point she will inquire about the discrepancies in students’ access to New York Times subscriptions this semester. VP Mehta will also be looking into having the libraries pay for the university-wide Times subscription service, since it is clear that housing is no longer interested in spending on that service, despite many students’ protests. Given the high level of interest amongst the student body to continue to receive that service, CCSC would consider funding New York Times subscriptions for Columbia College students if it became necessary.

President Joon Baek (CC ’21) in addition to VP Finance Sophia Adeghe (CC ’22), VP Communications Krishna Menon (CC ’22), and VP Policy Mehta met with Deantini for the first time this year, during which they discussed institutionalizing some of the academic policies that have been put in place since COVID. VP Adeghe gave the examples of the Resource Fund, winter break meals, and the Metrocard initiative as policies that Deantini may be open to officially institutionalizing in the future.

VP Menon met with CCE Dean, Kavita Sharma, to address issues that international students have been facing in trying to obtain necessary visas for internships. VP Menon also announced that he is the chair of the ID Task Force for the following month, after Race and Ethnicities Representative Colby King (CC ’22) had served for nearly three. Now that the constitutional amendment including the chair of the ID Task Force in EBoard meetings is passed and official, the chair will continue to switch monthly going forward. Representative King made sure to mention that the ID Task Force will be working with those organizing the multicultural graduations and will support them in creating end of year celebrations in another socially-distanced graduation season.

Class of 2022 Representative Brendan Shi presented his proposal to use the rest of this year’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) fund in supporting Asian and Pacific Islander identity and culture groups on campus planning for Asian and Pacific Islander heritage month in May. The proposal was put to a virtual vote on Sunday, so stay tuned for results!

Image via Bwog Archives