Student Council President Teddy Collins ’08 and Vice President Jonathan Adler ’08 are building on their past experience to implement Student Council’s detailed agenda for the remaining two terms. Collins’ proposed one-card key system has been finalized and will be implemented at the start of the next academic year.?? The Winter Term Club Rally, one of Adler’s platform goals, was put on by the Student Activities office last weekend. ??Other projects that Student Council completed this fall include organizing a student-faculty dinner, creating online OPP request forms and getting downtown discounts for students. On a larger scale, Collins is trying to restructure Student Council. ?? “Just one meeting a week for Student Council as a whole does not provide enough opportunities for the class representatives to pursue their own initiatives,” he said. ?? Collins now meets with subcommittees of Student Council on Sunday afternoon before the full Council meets at 6:30 p.m. Collins and Adler are also pushing for more communication between Student Council and the student body this term. ?? To do this, Lowers, Uppers and Seniors now have their own “class pages,” which can be accessed under the “My Organizations” module on PAnet.? ?Adler said, “What we would hope to do in the future by using this Blackboard page is to post for the student body, ‘This is what we’re talking about tonight [at the Student Council meeting]’ so that each student can have an input and the class representatives can gather those ideas.” ? Other comments, such as suggestions for class pizza parties or for the Ryley Roller, are also welcome on the class pages. ?? Further efforts toward what Collins calls a “comprehensive approach” to keep Student Council in touch with the student body include implementing Sunday office hours. During this time, Collins, Adler and Executive Secretary of Student Council Joey Mensah ’08 will be available to answer questions that students want to ask in person. ?? “We really just want to let the students know that we’re their advocates and we really want students to feel comfortable coming to us,” said Adler. ?? Another large initiative on both of their agendas is talking and learning about the Disciplinary Committee process. ?? “A large number of people have gone through the process, but a small number of people actually understand it,” said Collins. ?? The DC Clarification and Education Committee was created to provide a unified outline for all the dorms to learn about the DC system. ??This ensured that all DC representatives were consistent in their dorm talks, which were given to all the students at the beginning of the year. ??In addition, Student Council is working with cluster deans to draft a student-written explanation of the DC process. Max Meyer ’08 is involved in forming a committee to write this pamphlet and help clarify the process for students. This year Collins also hopes to create of student voice forums outside of PAnet and online sign-in for students. Frank Pinto ’08, who wrote the code for the online sign-in system, plans to finish removing glitches by the end of the month. Adler said, “Once it is approved by the [Director] of Technology, it will be ready for a trial run in a dorm.” One of several objectives from Adler’s platform that has yet to be accomplished includes acquiring phones for all the dorms’ commons rooms, which will make it easier for students to order take-out from the common room. Adler also plans to either subsidize copying in the library or create a library stock of quarters.?? “There have been some projects where there are lots of people excited about new initiatives, and if you talk to the right people, change is very possible,” said Adler. “Other times, it’s harder to garner support where initiatives come up short.”?? The online lottery for Grasshopper Night tickets, proposed by Collins, received both positive and negative feedback.?Some students felt the lottery system excluded students who could have previously arrived in line early to ensure being able to get tickets. ?Collins said, “We figured that this system was worth a try.” This term, Adler and Collins hope to continue making Student Council a bigger presence on campus, especially as they have more time compared to Senior Fall. Collins said, “Hopefully this new structure [of Student Council] will enable increased interactivity, communication and output…There are so many kids here with so many incredible ideas, and we want to help keep them in touch with the right people.”
