Money, money, money, it’s a Seven Sisters world.

This week in SGA, the emphasis was on how they planned on spending away the endowment and, more importantly what Barnard is already spending your tuition on. Buckle your seat belts, because this past SGA meeting was a bumpy, ambiguous ride.

At last night’s Barnard’s Student Government Association Rep Council meeting, VP of Finance, Evelyn McCorkle, presented the proposals for this year’s SGA Endowment fund. This fund, which contains close to $50,000, was created to finance student-proposed projects that enhance student life for a broad range of Barnard students. Each of the following proposals was considered by the Financial Advisory Committee (FAC) to determine its feasibility before they were presented. They were then discussed, questioned and voted on. SGA decided to approve every proposal presented. Now, they will be sent back to the FAC, which will work with the appropriate committees and administrators to determine exact costs and plans to enact said proposals, which will then be presented for a second vote later this year.

The proposals were:

• Getting new furniture for Diana. Apparently, furniture has been going missing in the Diana center. This is partly because broken furniture is not immediately replaced. The furniture shortage is also due to more people wanting to sit in Diana, because Barnard doesn’t have a library and, at least according to Campus Life VP Angela Beam, “we don’t have time to wait.” The proposed furniture purchases will cost somewhere between an estimated $1,338 and $28,500. That’s a wide range and a lot of money. I’d like to remind everyone that LeFrak is still Back and has seating. And so does every other library on campus, dare I say, across Broadway. And, I would venture to add, if you’re willing to make the journey, Lincoln Center has a nice little cafe with chairs and tables. Go and hang with our soon-to-be former prez. Or, wait and see how many uncomfortable orange chairs SGA buys, and then go to Lerner anyway.
• Diana rooftop access. The roof of the Diana center has a patio and a bunch of gardens run by the environmental science department. Because there is no suicide-prevention railing (because said railing would be too expensive, and probably mess up the feng shui of that orange mess of a building), the roof is closed to students who aren’t visiting the gardens for a class. This proposal plans to open the roof for a period of ten weeks during the spring semester for two days a week for a couple hours around lunchtime. It will cost $3,128 to pay public safety to be there for those times and make sure everyone is safe.
• New scanners. Proposed by Rep for Information and Technology Joanne Kim, SGA would purchase new scanners for student use in the Eliot, Plimpton, and 616 dorms. Estimated cost: $500.
• Tech Loans. SGA would purchase various computer and phone chargers and work with IMATS to set up a lending library for students to borrow them. The chargers would be primarily meant for students whose own chargers are lost or broken and need some time to purchase new ones or save money for replacements. This will cost up to $9,000, depending on which chargers they decide to buy and how many.
• Pre-Grad Test Prep. Some sort of subsidizing for grad school test prep courses, exam fees, and applications costs. This proposal, while approved, was mostly left alone, because to help a broad enough amount of students would cost too much. SGA hopes to work with the administration to see what they can do with this proposal.
• Fan Rentals. In partnership with Res Life, SGA hopes to purchase fans that can be rented by students in dorms without AC. This does not mean that they have stopped pressuring the administration to get AC for those dorms. They are just being realistic cause let’s face it, no one is addressing the AC problem anytime soon.
• Diversifying Barnard Gym Equipment. Because most of the equipment in the Barnard gym is lightweight or for cardio. SGA hopes to purchase some heavier things to appeal to those students who lift things heavier than a trenta mocha and agree that Dodge is just too far. The estimated cost is at $1,720.

To end the meeting, Food and Dining Service Rep Miriam Lichtenberg reported progress on the double swiping front. Barnard students cannot swipe more than once at a single meal, such as when they have guests, and instead have to use points. Like everything, Miriam reported, fixing this is more complicated than you may think. Part of the reason is that not all Barnard meal plans translate directly into the amount of meals they say you’re paying for. Mostly this means that Dining Services does not expect those on the first year meal plan, which requires first years to buy 19 meals a week for an absurd amount of money, to eat that many meals a week in the dining halls. If they were to let us double swipe, we might actually use that many meals. And then their numbers won’t add up the way they want them to. If this sounds confusing and a bit deceitful to you, you’re not alone. The Rep Council is also confused and somewhat alarmed. Hopefully, we will be updated on this sometime soon.

Photo courtesy of Mamma Mia! The Movie