ESC after they graduate

ESC was up to its usual shenanigans last night, discussing reforms, dressing up for important administrators, and thinking about things to repair on campus, (sprinklers, for example). Bureau Chief Aparajita Maitra was there to get the fix. 

The ESC meeting last night was more official than usual, with members on council dressed in formal attire for Dean Monique Rinere’s arrival. Dean Rinere of CSA, along with Andrew Plaa (the associate dean of advising) came to discuss the reforms to the mental health leave of absence policy. Complaints were received about the handling of medical leave cases, and Dean Rinere and the rest of CSA is trying to make students’ transitions (if they have to leave for a semester or more) as smooth and comfortable as possible.

The ESC E-Board is going to a meeting on Friday to discuss Lerner’s space assessment. They will be trying to find the most efficient ways to use spaces in Lerner, possibly transforming areas into lounges with refreshments, couches, and beanie bags. One ESC member said the piano stresses her out and makes it hard to concentrate on work, talk to other people, and just relax. Another council member suggested having games in the lounges—such as a Rubik’s Cube or Legos—for entertaining the engineering students.

Mudd is going to become the new late-night hub for students. Council is looking into healthy food options, changes to Carleton Lounge, and more swipe access in back entrances to Mudd.

Campus nap spaces are being created! Nap spaces are good for general wellness, according to ESC. VP Communications Joshua Boggs is working on collecting data about the most popular nap spaces on campus. Apparently, Harvard already has a nap map on Google Maps.

E-Board also addressed the off-campus residence hall policy, proposing that students living in off-campus residence halls can have access to on-campus dorms.  They are also looking for better channels for alumni to donate to student groups.

VP Policy Malini Nambiar spoke about some pressing issues in environmental stewardship and academic affairs. The Green Labs Initiative will continue to improve segregation of medical waste in places such as bio labs. For everyone who gets hit in the face by sprinklers in face on the way to class or on 2 am walks back from Butler, ESC is working to make sprinklers more efficient.

A grading curve project is under construction. This is a data collection and discussion to see if undergraduates are really being disadvantaged by having graduate students in their classes. A pass/fail report is also going to be made.

And in finance…we beat MIT at getting campus wireless data before they did! MIT just consolidated their data 2 weeks ago, and we did it last semester. A published report of campus WiFi hotspots will be published soon.

Student Services Representative Sarah Yang is working with Dining on dining hall issues, particularly looking at opening up John Jay earlier for students to release the breakfast traffic that goes through Ferris. Also, JJ’s may be open later on the weekends.

Announcement: The SEAS Video Contest has been launched! Everyone send in a 1.5- 2.5 minute video about “Celebrating Engineering.” There is a $2,000 prize for undergraduates if they win the competition! The deadline is Monday, November 3rd.

Class updates:

Class of 2015

·      This is the last week of sweater sales! Buy a sweater for $44 before October 11th. Over 200 sweaters have already been sold.

·      Oktoberfest will be on Saturday from 12pm-2pm. Come through for free beverages, food, music, and FREE GLASS MUGS.

Class of 2017:

·      There will be a Major Declaration Celebration for sophomores and juniors on Wednesday, October 22nd from 6pm – 8:30 pm in Roone. Food from Malaysian Grill will be provided.

·      Pre-order sales for class quarter-zips will start next week.

Class of 2018:

·      Plans for a rave/dance party for freshmen on October 24th are in the works.

·      ESC extended council position applications are out and available.

Living that professional life via Shutterstock