GSSC Monthly Message: November 2009
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen of General Studies,
This is your November Monthly Message,
filled
with news and updates from the General Studies Student Council. Take a
minute to check out updates regarding the GSSC Swipe Access issue,
answers to your housing questions from Dean Stellini, and the upcoming
Policy and Pizza lunch with Dean Awn! And don't forget about our
ongoing Student Life events, including community service opportunities,
Thanksgiving Dinner at Haakon's Hall, and a family-friendly holiday
party. Enjoy your break this week! Happy Thanksgiving!
Contents of this Email:
1) Thanksgiving Dinner at Haakon's Hall
2) The Great Thanksgiving Give-Back
3) Spring Talent Showcase: Calling all performers!
4) Policy and Pizza with Dean Awn: Latin vs. English Diplomas
5) Q&A with Dean Stellini: Answers to Student Housing Questions
6) Campus Space Survey
7) GS Swipe/Sign-in Access to Residence Halls: Update
8) GS Financial Aid Website
9) Housing Walk-throughs
10) Family Holiday Bash
11) Save the Date: Spring Gala
12) Tip of the Month: How to check Cubmail on Gmail
13) GSSC Weekly Meetings
14) Sign-Off
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1) Thanksgiving Dinner at Haakon's Hall
Thurs., Nov. 26, 2009
6.30 p.m. to 11.30 p.m.
Haakon's Hall (Amsterdam b/w 118th and 119th)
Staying in the city for Thanksgiving? Come and enjoy a relaxed evening
with amazing food and friends. We've booked out the whole restaurant,
and there will be sumptuous food - appetizers, soup/salad, full organic
Turkey Dinner (one drink included), pumpkin pie and more...Come and
feel at home!
*Vegetarian options available.
ONLY $10 per person.
Tickets on sale at Learner Box Office and www.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/
N.B. Ticket office is closed on Thanksgiving Day and capacity limited
to 75 so please buy tickets early!
Send questions to GSSC/International Student Representative Henry Wells at hcw2106@columbia.edu.
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2) The Great Thanksgiving Give-Back
When: Thanksgiving Day: Thursday, November 26th, 2009
Where: Broadway Presbyterian on Broadway and 114th Street
This Thanksgiving, show your thanks by giving back to the community at the 2nd Annual GSSC Great Thanksgiving
Give-Back. The Give-Back is a day of service where we
feed the homeless with a warm meal on Thanksgiving Day right here in
Morningside Heights. There are three 3 hour shifts to choose
from:9am-12pm,12pm-3pm, and
3pm-6pm. Email Community-at-Large Delegate Kambi Gathesha at kg2360@columbia.edu to sign up for this opportunity to help your community
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3) Spring Talent Showcase: Calling all performers!
As students of GS, we are constantly talking about and celebrating our
diversity. The GSSC would like to invite you to share your talents with
the student body this spring! Dean Halvorson plays guitar and Allison
Scola plays piano and sings; they are both ready to rock the house! (Check out Allison Scola at:www.allisonscola.com.)
If you are a performer or part of a student group that is interested in performing,
please contact Sophomore Class President Candice Arakelian at ca2402@columbia.edu. We are not limiting this to musical performances. If
you want to read a poem, dance or do magic tricks, please let me know.
If you have a rare talent, we are interested. Ideas and feedback are
welcome!
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4) Policy and Pizza with Dean Awn: Latin vs. English Diplomas
Thursday, December 10th, 2009 from 12-1pm
GS Lounge in Lewisohn
Discussion topic: Latin vs. English Diplomas
New
this
year, the GSSC Policy Committee is hosting a series of "Policy and
Pizza" where students and administrators can come together to discuss
relevant issues of GS students while enjoying a free pizza lunch in the
lounge. Our next discussion topic is Latin vs. English Diplomas, with
Dean Awn attending to talk to students, answer questions, and hear
feedback from the student body. If you have any questions or comments
to raise about this ongoing debate between Latin and English diplomas,
please
come and talk directly with the GSSC and Dean Awn.
For some background information on this topic, please check out these links from past GSSC initiatives on Latin diplomas:
http://gslounge.com/
http://gslounge.com/node/675
http://gslounge.com/node/676
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5) Q&A with Dean Stellini: Answers to Student Housing Questions
Why aren't GS students allowed to live in on-campus dorms?
Is it possible to cancel my UAH lease?
How do I report broken smoke alarms?
Find out answers to these questions and more!
For those of you who brought up questions at the past Policy and Pizza
event on GS Student Housing, Dean Stellini has taken the time to
respond to your concerns. Check out his answers here at: http://gslounge.com/node/854.
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6) Campus Space Survey
new space will open up for students on the main floors of Broadway and
Shapiro Residence Halls. (Currently these are offices for the Center of Student
Advising, but they are moving to Lerner over the summer.)
But wait! Don't forget that while space may be opening up for student
groups and meeting spaces, GS students are still facing issues with
access to residence halls. Please take the time to advocate for GS student access to these spaces in the comments section of this four-council survey.
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7) GS Swipe/Sign-in Access to Residence Halls: Update
On
Friday, October 13th, the GSSC Policy Committee met with Dean Kromm
(CC/SEAS Assistant Dean for Community Development & Residential
Programs), Joyce Jackson (Executive Director of CC/SEAS Residence
Halls), and Jose Rosado (Director of Public Safety) to discuss GS
Swipe/Sign-in access to Residence Halls. Unfortunately, the GSSC
proposal was denied. Below are the issues we brought up as arguments
for GS access and the responses we recieved:
Columbia Psychological Services (CPS): This is not an issue with housing or
residential services, but one we should bring up with CPS. The deans said
that they will confer with CPS to make sure that GS students don't have
appointments at the CPS offices in residential halls (Hartley, East
Campus, and Carmen).
Recitation and TA Office Hours in Residential Halls: Some TA's are
undergraduate students and find it convenient to hold recitation and TA
hours in their residential hall lounges. However, they should not hold
them there because it deters GS students from attending their specific
recitation and TA hours. At the meeting, we were advised that if there
were any recitations or TA hours in residential halls, GS students
should tell that TA to move the location.
Public spaces/lounges: If a club or an event is occurring in a
residential lounge, there should be either a club list given to the
security guard ahead of time to allow access to those on the list
and/or a representative of the club should be stationed at the building
entrance to sign in GS/Barnard students if necessary.
For more information about the GSSC Policy Initiative on GS Access to Residential Halls, check out:
"Swipe access for all" from the Columbia Spectator 10/25/2009
"Plan outlines more efficient building access for GS" from the Columbia Spectator 11/10/2009
"GS won't get swipe access to residence halls" from the Columbia Spectator 11/19/2009
Please know that the GSSC is not giving up on GS access to
student resources in Residence Halls and will continue to work on this
issue. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please let the
GSSC know by emailing VP Policy Jenny Chong at jc3279@columbia.edu.
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8) GS Financial Aid Website
Did you know GS Financial Aid Website was re-developed over the summer? Check out the new and improved site at http://www.gs.columbia.edu/
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9) Housing Walk-throughs: Call for volunteers in University Housing
The GSSC Policy Committee is continuing from last year housing walk-throughs. Housing is one of the
most pressing issues for GS students. To help the council more effectively
advocate for change, we are inviting interested students to briefly open their
apartment to a few members of the GSSC to come take photos for documentation purposes. This will
give us a chance to get a first hand glimpse of both good and bad situations. The goal is to help the council, student body, GS
administrators and University Housing administrators better understand the
living situations of GS students and the buildings in which they live.
For anyone who willing to open their apartment to the housing walkthrough,
please contact VP of Policy, Jenny Chong at jc3279@columbia.edu.
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10) Family Holiday Bash!
When: Thursday, December 3, 2009
Time: 4:00-6:00pm
Where: GS Lounge
Pizza will be served!
ALL Columbia Students and their families are welcome to attend.
Games & Prizes for children attending, include:
Story time!
Coloring Contest!
Christmas song-sing-along!
Please RSVP to Candice Arakelian (ca2402@columbia.edu) with the names and ages of children attending for a special treat!
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11) Save the Date: Spring Gala
Saturday, March 27, 2010
The Roosevelt Hotel (45 East 45th St New York, NY 10017)
Mark
your calendars now so you don't miss out on the most popular event of
the year! Our annual Spring Gala is being held March 27, 2010 at the
Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown. More information to come!
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12) Tip of the Month: How to check Cubmail on Gmail
Why
do Cubmail when you can get all Columbia mail forwarded to your primary
email instead? Click the link below to find step-by-step instructions
to make your life a little easier:
http://gslounge.com/
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13) GSSC Weekly Meetings
All students are welcome to
attend our weekly GSSC meetings, held every Tuesday, 7:30-9 PM in the
Satow Room, 5th floor of Lerner Hall. If you have an issue you would
like to discuss with the council, please contact the GSSC executive
board (gsidea@columbia.edu) to have your item placed on the agenda at least one week in advance.
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Sign-Off
Happy
Thanksgiving everyone! Enjoy your break this week, and if you ever have
any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me anytime at kje2105@columbia.edu.
--
Katherine Edwards
Student Body President
General Studies Student Council
Columbia University
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