Wesleyan Student Assembly — Wesleyan University

Minutes: September 29, 2002, No. 2

WSA Officers

President: Joey Wender
Vice President: Yaw Agyenim-Boateng
Coordinator: George Briggs
Treasurer: Adam Lachman

Meeting Agenda and Business

Meeting Opening
Guest Speaker
Review of Parliamentary Procedure
Committee Reports
New Business and Announcements
Adjournment

Opening of Meeting

The meeting was opened at 8:00 pm.

Guest Speaker

Tim Reiss, Senior Director of Wesleyan Dining Services:
The management of Dining Services has worked on Mocon, Davenport Campus Center, and Weshop. Its next project will be to improve upon Summerfield's. Dining Services strongly encourages student input and is always open to suggestions.

Stacks

Emily Polak asks about the changes that are planned for Summerfield's.
Mr. Reiss explains that they would like to upgrade Summerfield's, but are waiting for student input before deciding on what to do.
Colleen Galbraith first asks that the Vegan Café is kept where it is. She raises the complaint that there is an improvement in appearance of the food in general, but not in the quality. Getting food on the weekends and late at night is especially a problem. Matt Lerner inquires into the specific improvements that have been made in dining.
Mr. Reiss reports that an upgraded grill has been installed in Davenport. The Vegan Café has hired a totally vegan chef, and all of the food used there is organic. On the second floor of the Campus Center, there are now two main deli stations instead of one. Mocon has been serving restaurant quality food. It also has individualized stations, artisan breads, an added sauté station, and a double impinger at the pizza station. Local food companies are being used at all campus eateries. The management is trying to specialize the food that is served and reduce waste all over.
Jesse Watson reports that the food choices available to freshmen are restricting. -Mr. Reiss responds that the current plan tries to create some equality between what can be bought at Davenport and what is considered to be a meal at Mocon. He promises greater diversity among food choices at Davenport for freshmen.
Jesse Watson also points out that the lines at Mocon are too long.
Karen Courtheoux states that lines at Davenport are also a problem.
Mr. Reiss replies that the management is trying to bring people back to Summerfield's. The lines at Davenport, however, are being taken into consideration, and possible solutions (creating two lines, creating two stations, working on the speed of service, etc) are being considered.
Adam Poswolsky informs Mr. Reiss that the dining committee has met and discussed potential improvements. Among them is keeping the grilled sandwich deli open for dinner. He asked if there are any current resolutions for the problem with late night dining.
Mr. Reiss answers that they are still looking for suggestions to solve this problem.
Gabe Tabak raises the concern that there are many times during the day when freshmen cannot get meals.
Mr. Reiss points out that if Davenport becomes open to freshmen, the lines will be even longer.
Dana Chandler points out that there are a lot of inefficiencies at Mocon that can be fixed in order to reduce lines.
Maris Yanow suggests that if a café were open on the weekends, it would get a lot of business.
Adam Lachman inquires into the staffing and efficiency at all dining centers.
Mr. Reiss responds that they are in the process of examining the management and employment on campus to make sure that they are efficient. They are working with the union to make sure that efficiencies are being realized. He encourages people to voice any concerns to the managers or himself.
Dan Matzkin suggests keeping Mocon open for another hour during lunch for people who have classes during the time that it is open.
Matt Lerner asks to whom students can voice complaints and in what time frame changes will be implemented.
Mr. Reiss says that quick fixes will be changed as soon as possible. If students have concerns, they should speak to the managers: Joe LaChance for Weshop (x3093), Richard Meegle for Davenport (x3080), and Chris Abges (x3060). If a student cannot contact them, he/she should go to Mr. Reiss (x3255, treiss@wesleyan.edu), whose office is in Downey House.
Colleen Galbraith states that it seems students are getting less for their money. As a suggestion for weekend dining, she proposes keeping Weshop and Davenport open and having a place where people can go for a nicer dinner on Friday or Saturday.
Mr. Reiss states that if public opinion allows, they are considering turning the third floor of the campus center into a coffee shop with music.
Nate Victoria recommends converting meals into points and keeping the campus center open for those freshmen who miss lunch at Mocon. He also suggests that Summerfield's should be open for more than one meal a day.
Yaw Agyenim-Boateng raises the problem that the campus center's specials close too early and that people who have classes during normal lunch hours miss them.
Mr. Reiss responds that this occurs because they want to limit waste as much as possible. He will, however, bring it to the attention of the managers.
Anay Shah asks if the grill at the campus center could be more diverse and if the prices at WesWings could be lowered.
Mr. Reiss informs him that WesWings is a completely separate entity from the university; WesWings pays them minimal rent.
Ud Njoku voices the complaint that Summerfield's needs more space.
Nathan Victoria asks who controls Summerfield's and Kosher Kitchen.
Mr. Reiss informs him that he is the one in control of those two organizations right now.
Dana Chandler inquires into the starting wage for the staff at Mocon.
Mr. Reiss responds that employees earn above living wage; anywhere from $12 to $15 an hour.

Parliamentary Procedure Review

(See Appendix 1A)
Special attention should be paid to Article X C, which states that "Any member who misses three consecutive meetings or four total meetings without an excused absence by the EC during one semester will be impeached. 'Meetings' include regularly scheduled meetings and committee meetings." If members cannot attend meetings, they should contact Sara Mirsky, Assistant Coordinator, by emailing her at smirsky@wesleyan.edu. They should also inform their chairs, who will then report to Joey Wender.
The Assembly is allowed to close meetings at its discretion.

Committee Reports

Student Affairs Committee (SAC)
Emily Polak, SAC Chair, reports:
The SAC is currently forming a dining committee. If a member of the Assembly has a complaint, he/she should tell the SAC before going to dining management so that students can speak with one voice.
The Student Life Committee (SLC) is working with administrators, the LBGTQQ, and Students of Color groups to work on housing policies.
The Undergraduate Residential Life Committee (URLC), co-chaired by Ms. Polak and Jeff Ederer is being formed. Its other members are Matt Lerner, Selina Ellis, Ali Gomer, and another member, selected by Mr. Ederer, who is yet to be determined.
Student Budget Committee (SBC)
(See Appendix 1B)
Adam Lachman, WSA Treasurer and SBC Chair, reports:
The SBC had its first meeting on Monday, during which it allocated funds.
The SBC and the SAC are working together to improve upon the use of space in Westco. The goal of the union is to create a student space and to improve the acoustics within the area.
Independent Projects Committee (IPC)
Yaw Agyenim-Boateng, IPC Chair, reports:
The IPC met and planned for the year. It is going to serve as an active connection between the student body and the Assembly. Members will approach students throughout the year and ask about what they want to see changed in the student government. Once they receive feedback, they will report it to the WSA. As of now, they have a list of student concerns, including Internet service, credit for courses, food, distribution of newspapers among the campus, and recycling.
Educational Policy Committee (EPC)
Colleen Galbraith, EPC Chair, reports:
The EPC met on Monday. Members discussed the film studies programs, which is going through external review. The committee is working hard on getting the two nonvoting members to have as much input as possible in administrative proceedings.
Community Outreach Committee (COCo)
Jeremy Abrams, COCo Chair, reports:
COCo met last week, but had attendance difficulties.
Anay Shah was pronounced the Middletown-Wesleyan relationship representative.
Finances and Facilities (FiFac)
Ali Gomer, FiFac Chair, reports:
FiFac is still waiting for its technology member.
The committee met and discussed its goals for the year. It plans on assessing facilities on campus and finding out what students want as improvements. It is meeting with Jeff Miller and Marcia Bromberg this week to discuss student issues.
Coordinating Committee (CC)
George Briggs, WSA Coordinator, Reports:
The CC will be meeting on Thursday to conduct appointments for new members.
Executive Committee (EC)
Joey Wender, WSA President, Reports:
President Wender thanks everyone for attending the WSA dinner.
The EC is currently working on a strategy for enhanced representation at the university. One method of achieving this is the creation of more subcommittees to give students more involvement in offices of the university, such as ResLife.

New Business and Announcements

No new business is raised.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 9:04 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,
Monica Arduini, WSA Secretary