Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
Council realizes that there’s confusion around the plan to move events from the Reserved Students Digest to the spiffy new calendar, and is planning on having a forum showing how to use the calendar at 8 PM on Tuesday, October 9th.
Council had a productive meeting with David Ramirez of CAPS discussing ways to raise awareness of their role on campus. Some of the ideas that were mentioned:
* Updating the website with pictures of the staff and a description of their specialties
* Having a meet and greet forum with the therapists
* Emphasizing CAPS as a resource for issues of substance abuse and sexual assault
* Shifting hours to be later in the day and possibly on Saturdays
Council plans to meet with Beth Kotarski, the new director of Worth Health Center, to discuss outreach and student feedback, soon after she assumes her new position today.
Council also had a meeting with Stu Hain about blue lights, the OneCard access system, composting, and a new walkway from Mertz/Alice Paul to Magill Walk. Council is also having meetings about a new student/faculty/administration committee being set up to promote sustainability.
Tarble renovations are still a long ways in the future, but Council heard about some of the possibilities–the bookstore might move to the inn which is currently in the planning phase and the old bookstore might be converted into a student space, “the new Paces.”
Council is setting up a Q&A session with the administration to better educate students about college finances.
Linda McDougal and Dining Services are enrolled in an “Economics of Dining Services” class to learn about how other colleges use meal plans. In its meeting with Dining Services, Council raised the possibility of letting first-semester freshmen change their meal plan halfway through the semester and also the possibility of giving off-campus students more options for meal plans.
Moving the bookstore to the Ville is THE. WORST. IDEA. EVER. I’m sorry, I just don’t know how to express my annoyance at this entire misbegotten plan without capital letters. The bookstore has enough problems as it is – if it moves to the Ville no one will ever buy their books there, or anything else, and that will be the end of that. Please, Swarthmore powers-that-be, don’t kill the bookstore.
But the idea of a new, renovated, and non-disgusting Paces is also exciting… What are the bookstore’s problems?