S enate does not do anything. Do I have your attention? That statement gets tossed around a lot, and it seems like the time to finally comment. Traditionally, Senate publishes a “Semesterly” that details what we’ve done and what’s coming up. As Director of Publicity, I should do this, but I really don’t feel like wasting paper for something that no one will read, so here you go (in something that people do read)—Senate’s activities.
Once upon a time, back in September, smoking erupted into a major issue on campus. The addition of the “butt huts” brought many trials to GMC and Senate reacted with an epic smoking forum, though while highly entertaining brought few workable ideas from the community. Therefore, Senate passed a proposal for the new hut locations with a recycling bin and a garbage can at each, which mostly worked until Halloween. Rumor has it that our naked tables will one day have aluminum roofed tents. We can only hope and do so much.
We also fought to keep our disheveled skateboarding ramps and tennis courts from transforming into the illustrious title of parking spaces. On that note, we finally solved the commuter parking issue, and allocated the Bogue and SAGE stalls as day-time commuter parking.
We did, however, pass proposals to fix a few things around here. Walking in the dining hall no longer feels like riding on a roller coaster like it did in September, and the gym ceiling now does its job without producing mold. Also, the washers and dryers—those things currently in the basement of the buildings that eat your quarters and sometimes make noise—will disappear next fall, and be replaced by a newer, more efficient system.
Every student needs a voice, so Senate bridged the gap between the streakers and the administration. Senate also tried to improve communication on campus by starting the Log-Off Campaign. You’ve seen those little fliers in the bathrooms saying, “Go ahead, you can touch it” and things of that sort—that’s about shutting your computers down to save energy and decongest the network. In addition to that, we hosted an Internet Usage Forum a few weeks back that gave us much insight from the student body regarding this issue and how to best divide bandwidth. Many ideas floated about including the possibility of banning Facebook in the dorms, so thank you to all those who attended.
Additionally, to reduce the rampant paper use at this environmental institution, Senate passed a proposal to install a television panel in Whithey that declares the upcoming events on campus in a more readable, less annoying manner than the current all-campus email and poster overload. Look for that in the coming months.
The senior representative this year, Michelle Erhard, with the help of Senate, Career Services, and the Alumni House, created the first-ever December Senior Social, which took place on December 2nd as a chance to honor those kids that will escape at the end of this semester and to encourage those who only have one more to go. We also provided much entertainment at the end of October with another first-ever event that provided students with an opportunity to protest locally, write expressive articles, think about their values, and appreciate grand irony. Perhaps that remained the goal all along, as the senators really want other students involved on campus.
We encourage students to come to us with proposals, not just for money, but for ideas as well. Some that we’ve tackled this semester include writing a letter to a state representative asking for financial aid for UNICEF, allocating money for a student to become Project Learning Tree certified, and providing funds to help another student begin her internship with Rising Minds in Guatemala.
Also, we approved many students to positions on the retention, land use, facilitations, and SCGF committees, as well as appointing three new J-Board members under the guidance of the current vice-president. That said, elections for a new vice-president and commuter representative occurred at the beginning of December.
So what’s coming up? Much is already brewing for next semester including the possibility of a Saferide Program (better yet, a school sponsored drunk mobile), and a new Student Government Association constitution which will radically change student politics at this school. But we’d love to hear from you for ideas.
In addition to the “Senate does nothing” adage, a rumor also circulates that Senate exists as a sort of cloak-and-dagger society with closed doors and secrets. That is a joke. Student Senate meetings occur every Wednesday at 6 pm in the SGA room (the basement of Withey next to auxiliary services) and are open to the entire campus community. The minutes are available on the weekly events email, MyGMC, and sometimes the Senate bulletin board located in the basement of Withey that looks like a salad reading “Get in the Mix; Get involved!” Precisely, come to a meeting, read the minutes, or simply share your thoughts with studentsenate@greenmtn.edu. Speak up, otherwise we won’t do anything; after all, we serve as your voice.
