The Senate took a more subdued turn this week with three senators out for illness and no substantial new business. But even while the meeting clocked in at under an hour, CTQ did the best job possible of dredging up material. True story: it was, as always, easy.
SAAC’s Fearless Leader And Chief Kahuna! (some call him Andrew) gave two bits of news:
1. The Hindu Students’ Association will be getting $150 for a speaker and supplies to help with Hindu Awareness Week (going on this week, if you weren’t aware).” CTQ will help spread the word.
2. Campus Activities Board is looking for $1,200 in equipment supplementals for new Boar’s Head costumes — for the 75th anniversary, that seems pretty fitting. Incidentally, Sen. Scott Strenger may be hearing from CAB adviser Melissia Schmidt about not spilling state secrets.
3. A-Flack announced the drafting of a new form accompanying the equipment supplemental form explaining that valuable things shouldn’t be thrown around/handled by that lazy senior who shows up to practice three sheets to the wind.
Sen. Strenger admonished the senators for not posting any comments to the Hive Club Spotlight, which focused on the D’Lions. You’ve probably never heard of them since you, ignorant reader you, spend all your time focused on those super-popular groups like the Debate Union or the Undergraduate Anthropology Council. Next week’s group will be a little more in need of spotlighting since… wait what? SALSA?… well hey, it’s not an a cappella group, so there’s that.
Senators Jon Junig, Carlos Tejeda and all the freshmen reps have yet to take pictures for the Hive Web site. According to a legitimate businessman who works in the basement of a barbershop somewhere near don’t-worry-about-it, the gambling odds on that getting done by next Monday is roughly 6-1.
Projects and Services Co-Chair Sen. Bradley Halpern and Co-Chair Alissa Brill ran a focus group on UR’s Ride Home Taxi Program earlier in the evening. Candy was used as a bribe.
Now that the threat of H1N1 has largely subsided, the Pandemic Committee is no longer formally meeting. They’ll be sorry when “H1N2: Killer Boar Flu” hits.
P&S is attempting to talk to and reform Event Support due to student complaints about the campus monopoly. Event Support mishandled the set-up of the Gowen Room tonight, which probably won’t help them very much.
In new business, the Senate approved minutes and noted that the SA Government Adviser, Associate Dean of Students Anne-Marie Algier, is pretty cool. She is.
With so little time left, President Eric Weissmann gave his report, and it started with a mention of a Campus Times editorial noting that students should take advantage of what student government can offer, which he noted was a rare show of support. But while a pat on the back can be good once in a while, it’s a fine line between claiming success and exhibiting hubris.
There’s a deep logical flaw in the assertion that poor attendance at SA Fireside Chats means students don’t have complaints; apathy is not happiness. The projected date for the new Campus Club Connection’s launch has come and gone. Student government’s reactive approach is more responsible for hostile relations between undergraduates and administrators than the Dean of Students Office is. And an analysis of Fill Fauver could take up a few Bluebooks. There are miles to go before sleeping.
That’s not meant to sound preachy. CTQ is just all about balance.
Adjourned!
1 response so far ↓
1 Eric Weissmann // Oct 21, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Dear CTQ,
Thanks for another engaging issue! However, I find it necessary to give a brief response to your last paragraph.
My assertion about poor attendance at Fireside Chats was not to make the point that poor attendance means happiness, but rather that poor attendance means relative happiness when compared to the alternatives. For example, students were so unhappy with the alcohol policy that it was worth their time to come to the first Fireside Chat rather than something else (such as a club meeting). But last week there was no prevailing issue, and there were other things that students preferred to spend their time doing. We will hold the chats and sit there for the full hour even if nobody comes, if only to provide one more way for students to give feedback when they feel it is necessary. If they’d rather not leave their rooms, they can of course use the new SA Feedback webpage (sa.rochester.edu), they can email me directly (SApres@mail.rochester.edu), or they can read Rocky’s Report (sent monthly to all students).
I agree wholeheartedly that the new Campus Club Connection (CCC) should be online. Unfortunately, the SA does not have control or responsibility over the CCC, and a number of unexpected delays slowed down that project. We have been assured that the IT team is now working hard to have it completed ASAP.
Your point about Student Government’s reactive approach to the new alcohol policy doesn’t quite make sense to me. Clearly, had we known that changes were being made (or even considered), we would have responded in a more timely manner. But that was the biggest problem with the policies to begin with: nobody knew about them! Our only option was to react after the decisions had already been made. And react we did, with an exhaustive number of meetings with Dean Burns and Dean Levy including repeated requests for better communication. Unfortunately, our suggestions for a Town Hall Meeting and an explanatory email to students were both declined. The Deans have apologized for not including students in the decision-making process and have promised to be more inclusive in the future. Student Government responded to the situation as best we could given the decisions of the Dean of Students Office.
As for Fill Fauver — it is certainly a program that needs evaluation. The good news is that athletic teams continue to appreciate the program and the spirit and support that it provides, but we will be looking closely at how to ensure the program’s future viability.
And, CTQ, you (and Robert Frost) are correct — there are miles to go before we sleep, and we certainly still have promises to keep. We have a long way to go as we complete the Mid-Year Report, look at the budgeting process, continue to promote Experience Eastman, solve the problem of having too many groups using too few resources and many more. But I think we’ve shown so far that we have no intention of resting any time soon.
On behalf of the SA, thanks CTQ for holding us accountable. We look forward to your blog each week - keep them coming!
Sincerely,
Eric Weissmann
SA President
Leave a Comment