Wesleyan Student Assembly — Wesleyan University

Minutes: December 4, 2005, No. 8

WSA Officers

President: Jesse Watson

Vice President: Monica Arduini

Coordinator: Emily Malkin

Treasurer: Matt Ball

Meeting opened at 7.04.

No non-WSA members volunteered to speak.

Minutes approved by a majority.

Nicole Ippoliti, '09 was appointed to the SBC. Her appointment was approved by a majority.

Emily Malkin introduces Lisa Hendrix, the WSA Office Coordinator, and Jose Marantes, an Office Manager, to talk about changes in the WSA Office.

Lisa Hendrix explains the position of the Office Coordinator. Her job is to support the WSA, student groups, COCo and the SBC. She has two office managers and 12 student workers. They maintain information for student groups, create documents, maintain the office and office communication, and greet and help students. Jose Marantes explains the changes that were made this year. He reports that previously, the office was controlled by Cari MacDermott, who embodied the WSA's institutional memory. The Office's challenge this year is to automate and systemize the WSA Office's procedures. Lisa Hendrix has instituted training for office workers, and the Office is physically changing as well. The Office offers students copying and faxing services. It is open for the use of student groups, and student groups can sign up for office space as of this year. The sound co-op for parties is run from the WSA Office. There is also equipment rentals and storage for groups. This year is going well so far, but there is still a lot to do. A lot of procedures still need to be institutionalized. Next semester should run much more smoothly.

Stack

Anne Fox asks about the problems with the Xerox machine and if there could be a better system for copying large numbers and using the copying machine. Lisa Hendrix: Outsourcing of copying is something to look into, but for now it is up to students to do their own copying.

Gabe Tabak asks what will happen to the WSA Office with the building of the new University Center. Dean Rick responds that it is not certain yet, though it houses a lot of student groups that will need space after the University Center is built.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

SBC:

Matt Ball welcomes the SBC's new member. The SBC sent out a survey to student groups, and they hope to get useful feedback from it.

EPC:

FiFac:

Benedict Bernstein reports that a group met to discuss future renovations. Bedrooms will probably stay the same, the Westco kitchen is being looked at, etc. (ASK BENEDICT ABOUT THIS, I MISSED IT AND HE SAID HE HAS AN OUTLINE OF IT.)

COCO:

Student Leadership manual was finished. Everyone on the WSA should look through it and read it because it explains how the WSA and student groups work.

CC:

EC:

IPC:

SAC:

Whitney Matthews attended a preliminary meeting discussing housing sales for this year. Rafael Medrano adds that Buddhist House does not have a buyer for this year, so it will belong to the University for another year.

URLC: Gender Neutral Housing: Dean Mike updated students on the new policy. Before this year, the policy was that no students of different sexes could live together, but that policy will be changed for next year. A lot of students felt isolated in the Butterfields. There is especially a lack of community because of the mixture of freshman and sophomores. Lighting was also a point. Maureen Islip is working on a quiet hours proposal for reading week and how to handle student houses that get a certain number of warnings for noise.

Queer Task Force: Minutes to come

SLC: Nate Ratner reports. Gender neutral housing was discussed. OBHS is currently in the process of comparing itself to peer schools so that it can develop a strategic plan for reform. A lot of students have visited the website regarding changes in the office.

SJB: The SJB wants to change the wording of unauthorized use of property. Wording to come later.

STACK

Anne Fox asks what happened at the SBC student forum today. Matt Ball answers that the meeting was mandatory, so one student announced that the SBC does not have the authority to call a mandatory meeting, and that the SBC process should be democratic. But overall, students seemed appreciative of the meeting because it unveiled what the SBC has been working on.

Jerry Ai asked Dean Maria why Orientation Week was shortened by one day. Dean Maria responds that the time needed for Orientation Week has been cut short due to the new registration process in that a day does not need to be reserved for clicking on courses and advisor authorization. An initiative is also being addressed to begin peer advising. Before this, we and Amherst had the longest orientation weeks, but now we will be second.

Rashida Richardson suggests that color is added to the WSA posters.

Emily Malkin asks if Gender Neutral Housing will continue to be an issue. Rafael Medrano responds that students who take use of this option will be surveyed, but this seems to be the best solution to the problem.

Anne Fox was under the assumption that this sort of system was already existent, and asks why this is a change. Rafael Medrano answers that students had to wait a month for room change requests, and students will no longer have to write about what gender neutral housing means to them.

Anda Greeney suggests that the new Foss dorms be converted to singles so that more students can be

Nishita Roy asks what the plans for kitchens are, and why card access systems aren't being implemented in Westco. Benedict Bernstein responds that key card access requires expensive upkeep, but the ones that are most in use will be kept. Kitchens will be placed in Foss 8.5 and Foss 5. It will be dependent on energy and ventilation.

NB&A

Emily Malkin announces that next week's meeting will feature pizza.

Rashida Richardson requests a Holiday Party complete with Secret Santa.

Anne Fox announces that racial profiling versus safety issues have been coming up lately in terms of Traverse Square talks and the lighting walk. This has come up a lot on parent listservs. Public Safety insists that it is students who have been racially profiling one another, in that students call Public Safety to report on students of color at parties and in dorms.

Rafael Medrano announced that Spirituality Week will be held in January, and anyone with suggestions on what should be included in the week should be emailed to Gary Comstock.

Matt Ball asks if Public Safety officers have diversity training. Anne Fox responds that they have a day or two of it, and this year they specifically had a day on racial profiling.

Rashida Richardson suggests that we allocate time for discussion on the topic of racial profiling next week.

Sean Corlett suggests that a better system should be developed for reporting racial profiling.

Jason Harris reports that his "Do You Know Your Rights?" sheet that he is printing up will include a question on racial profiling.

Sean Corlett asks Dean Maria if there is a system of anonymous reporting set up for victims of racial profiling. Dean Maria answers that there are problems with anonymous reporting because it limits the amount of research that can go into it. Dean Rick answers that the Office of Affirmative Action would be the best place to go for any questions or reporting regarding racial profiling. Dean Rick adds that people holding parties should be asking for IDs as they come in to avoid this problem. We might need to culturally change how we interact with one another.

Benedict Bernstein argues that this sort of interaction is inevitable unless we ask Wesleyan students to wear uniforms or have dialogue.

Ashley Martin responds that Wesleyan students should not feel unsafe going anywhere out of fear for being harassed or racially profiled. It is Wesleyan's job to make its students feel as comfortable as possible on this campus.

Emily Morris points out that many students feel uncomfortable calling Public Safety to report others.

Sam Ruth agrees with Benedict Bernstein that it is hard to have a policy limiting racial profiling.

Ashley Martin responds that Sean Corlett's idea of having a more efficient means of reporting incidents of racial profiling is a good start, as is dialogue.

Rafael Medrano perceives that students are being called out for their different dress, as well as race.

Emily Morris suggests that students should be made more aware of security in encouraging them to close dorm doors because a lot of students are unaware of these issues.

Dean Maria wants students who have experienced racial profiling to contact the Office of Affirmative Action, and to seek an Area Coordinator or a Residential Advisor or someone in the Dean's Office so that they can keep track of such incidents and their circumstances.

Nishita Roy suggests that the WSA has a poster campaign making people aware of stereotyping by clothing. Further, she encourages that the WSA writes Wespeaks and emails. She also points out ways that students can ask people why they are in residential buildings without being rude, such as asking whom they are visiting.

Matt Ball points out that students often don't know that they are racial profiling, so the WSA might try to publicize these occurrences so that students think about the issue more.

Dave Woo agrees that the issue should be advertised more, but we need to recognize that students should also be careful when asking others for their WesIDs if they turn out to not be students.

Jesse Watson proposes that we have an adhoc committee to address the issue of racial profiling.

Straw poll: 23 yes, 6 abstain, 0 no

Meeting adjourned at 8:35 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

Monica Arduini, WSA Vice-President