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BY LINDA HOU

In print | Published April 22, 2010

StuCo prepares elections

A Q&A session for StuCo candidates originally planned for yesterday was changed to today because of conflicts with the freshmen lottery last night.

Financial Policy Representative Dan Symonds ’11 asked whether the deadline for platforms should be extended if there were not enough competitors. Rojas said extension should only occur if there are no candidates at all. Symonds, however, said that he thought that this way, more people will run if they see who they’re up against.

“People can look at the ballot and say ‘Oh, I can beat them,’ and they can run,” Symonds said.
StuCo President Rachel Bell ’10 and others said that this was unfair, and the group decided against extensions unless there are no candidates.

There were no extensions. All candidates’ platforms can be read on Page 18, 19 and 20 of The Phoenix. Voting will take place between April 23 and April 28.

StuCo pay

Since results from a previous survey asking for student opinion on paying StuCo members were deemed inconclusive, StuCo suggested adding a referendum to the StuCo election ballot to ask students about their opinion on StuCo pay.

Student Groups Advisor Benjamin Francis ’12 suggested that they should allow students to pick more than one option, and the group agreed. Changing the question was also discussed, but no conclusion was reached. The winner will be based on plurality, which means that the option receiving the most votes wins.

Rojas wanted to have an informational segment attached to the ballot explaining the role of StuCo and the meaning of StuCo pay. The group decided to have each StuCo member write up a paragraph explaining their thoughts on the issue and to have those paragraphs appear on the ballot.

Rollover money

Bell raised the question of what to do with this year’s rollover fund. Last year, rollover funds in SBC went to a green fund and a textbook fund.

Symonds said that Wesleyan University had started a student-invested endowment which raised money for the school while the rest of the school’s endowment decreased in value. Rojas suggested a competition between student groups to come up with proposals to improve the school with the fund. Symonds also suggested a StuCo grant, but Educational Policy Representative Esther Burson ’10 disagreed.

“I would feel really uncomfortable with all this money going to one person. This should go to something that benefits everyone instead of just one individual,” Burson said.

Bell agreed and the group decided to postpone decisions until the rollover amount can be determined.

Picnic tables

Before the meeting, StuCo expressed interest in getting picnic tables behind Sharples. Burson said that the cost per picnic table would be between $1,000 and $4,000. This cost is due to ground treatment for the tables.

“It’s hilly there, so it would be expensive to even out the ground and put down crushed stone under the tables to take care of drainage issues,” Burson said in an e-mail.

Burson said that funding is currently not available for the tables, and discussions with Grounds and Dining Services will be necessary before any other actions are taken.

Book exchange

Symonds talked to Provost Constance Hungerford last summer to propose a book exchange program. The program would encourage students to loan books to each other for a semester by insuring them. The insurance would be paid partly by StuCo and the other by students.

Symonds said Hungerford encouraged them to follow through and said she would help. Symonds also said that StuCo should begin the project with a few departments first, adding that he had already talked to the education department, which expressed interest in the idea. The departments would ask students to sign up online for the program.

Bell expressed the concern that students who would loan their books will instead just sell them.

Symonds said that the program is for people who don’t want to sell their books but leave their books untouched for semesters.

“Part of this program is to have a really good campaign to convince them why they want to give their books away and that their books would come back safely. I think [it could be perceived] as a class issue,” Symonds said.

*Movie night *

Burson said that the movie committee may not have enough money in their budget to fund both “Up” and “The Wiz,” the two movies planned for StuCo’s movie night on May 2 at 7 p.m.

Bell said, however, that the movie committee told StuCo that funding was short last year, but, in the end, StuCo was able to show two films. Posters have already been printed for the event. StuCo members will sign up to serve popcorn.

Sunday breakfast

After results from a survey sent by StuCo indicated a strong preference for the introduction of a Sunday breakfast, Bell ’said that she talked to President Rebecca Chopp, who advised her to talk to the Vice President for Facilities and Services Stu Hain.

The group was unsure of how to further proceed in the matter.

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