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BY MENGHAN JIN

In print | Published February 25, 2010

Budget cuts slow ADA projects

Due to budget cuts, there has been a hold-up in funding for already proposed projects to increase accessibility on campus.

According to Vice President Deivid Rojas ’11, the Board of Managers has said that bigger projects must be completed by 2013. StuCo would take the role of emphasizing the importance of these issues and obtaining student feedback on the proposed initiatives.

Benjamin Francis ’12, student groups advisor, pointed out the importance of cost-benefit in analyzing potential projects.

“It’s just as an important question for us as what do we want to prioritize, and I know there’s just not a ton of money to go around,” he said.

StuCo will continue to deliberate on the best way to utilize current resources to make the campus more accessible for people with disabilities.

Course recommendation book

Esther Burson ’10, educational policy representative, and Sonja Spoo ’13, appointments chair, met with Registrar Martin Warner last Wednesday to discuss the possibility of developing a course recommendation book providing student feedback on Swarthmore professors and courses, which would be available online for students.

The registrar’s office is willing to provide data for the course book, but even so, the data would most likely just be a general list of courses, Spoo said.

“The administration doesn’t want to take it on because there’s a lot of faculty opposition to the idea of public evaluations,” Burson said.

The design and maintenance of the book would have to be entirely student-driven, Burson said.

StuCo hopes to find someone who is willing to commit to designing and maintaining the book, potentially with monetary benefits.

Appeals

Last week, the first appeals session regarding Student Budget Committee funding was held and appointments for StuCo committees finalized. Rojas questioned how to approach the matter of transparency with the results of these proceedings.

“My question is, where do you draw the line?” Spoo said. “What is too much information that infringes on the students who are appealing?”

For appeals, members of StuCo agreed on keeping names separate from votes. Only a summary of the proceedings, including a final vote count, will be provided. For appointments, StuCo hopes to create a website that will be updated each term of all committee member appointments.

Paces party and StuCo lounge

Student Council hosted two major events last week: a StuCo lounge in Paces Café Wednesday night to provide an open environment for interaction between Swarthmore students and StuCo members, and a “Video Phone”-themed Paces party Friday night.

The five members who represented StuCo at the lounge on Wednesday were met with a large group of students who talked about their priorities and initiatives. Rojas expected more council members to attend but expressed his general satisfaction with the event.

“I talked to as many students as I could and people were generally very happy with the event,” Rojas said. “I think overall the event was pretty successful.”

Another StuCo lounge will be held in Paces Café next Tuesday from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m.

StuCo video

Poe and Rojas proposed the idea of making a StuCo video. Rojas said that ideally, the video would be broadcasted before spring break and include three segments: one introducing all members of the Council, one on the Dean Search Committee and one on how to get funding.

Several members pitched ideas for a possible theme, including creating theme songs for each StuCo member and choreographing a dance circle, but a final decision was not made. All agreed, however, on creating three two-minute videos with a lighthearted and entertaining ambiance.

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