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.
Student Body Mailing List
Since last meeting, several StuCo members met with Liz Braun, Dean of Students, to discuss access to the student body mailing list. After StuCo voted to recommend that only the Daily Gazette be given the ability to automatically subscribe the student body to regular emails at last week’s meeting, Braun suggested that a pilot program be conducted, allowing both the Daily Gazette and Phoenix to have this ability for a period of time.
Student Council members agreed that the ability to automatically subscribe students to group mailing lists should continue to be discussed; however, many members preferred holding a campus-wide discussion in regard to access, during which students and student group representatives would have the opportunity to express views regarding this issue, as opposed to a pilot program approach. According to Campus Life Representative Lizy Bryant ’13, the impact of a pilot program seems as though it would be difficult to measure. This concern was echoed by Anna Stitt ’13, the Student Groups Advisor, who said that the pilot program “sounds like a touchy, immeasurable thing to do.”
Several StuCo members were hesitant to pick a single course of action without further consulting with representatives of the Phoenix. Deivid Rojas ’11, Vice President of Student Council, suggested that the Phoenix be invited to next week’s StuCo meeting so that they have the opportunity to participate in the discussion process leading to a plan of action.
In the end, StuCo voted on what action to take, with seven of the ten members voting to stand by their original recommendation while also planning a comprehensive campus discussion in regard to automatic mailing list subscription.
Short-Term Goals/Student Survey Initiatives
Student Council voted to include the implementation of a laptop sharing program, a television and cable repair initiative, and the creation of a comprehensive student resource for event planning and funding into their short-term goals for the semester. In addition to these goals, StuCo plans to meet with Linda McDougall, the director of Dining Services, to discuss the feasibility of food-related initiatives: for example, providing a wider variety of organic and locally grown foods in Sharples, and the ability to use meal points in the Ville. (McDougall told the Gazette two years ago that such a plan would be prohibitively expensive)
StuCo also discussed the write-in responses that were received from the student survey. From these suggestions, StuCo decided to look into creating a campus “free bin,” which would allow students to deposit goods they no longer want or use into a bin with the hope that another student might have a use for these objects.
StuCo also plans to research options for reinstating aerobics classes on campus and for providing more food options to students, such as healthier food options in the night, as well as those mentioned above.
Miscellaneous
- StuCo sent an email to the student body regarding student group displays in the main hall of Parrish. Groups interested in receiving or maintaining space should contact StuCo by Friday.
- A representative of the men’s rugby team appeared at the meeting to discuss reinstating the Dash for Cash, an annual fundraising event for the rugby team that was discontinued last year. StuCo felt that the team should gauge student interest and discussed the options that the rugby team has for collecting feedback from the student body; however, StuCo ultimately decided to table the discussion until next week’s meeting, giving the team an opportunity to discuss courses of action.