SGA Update

In their first meeting of Winter Term, on Jan. 9, the Student Government Association (SGA) sought to address complaints about the lack of available newspapers in the dining hall and continued discussing old business, such as Pass/Fail and Midnight Breakfast.

Currently, the SGA funds The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and USA Today — the three papers currently delivered on campus. They plan to address the newspaper shortage by ordering 30 extra New York Times papers on Monday through Friday. Doing so from now until the end of spring semester will cost approximately $1125.
The option of decreasing the number of USA Todays was also suggested. However, because the specific number of delivered papers are part of a contract with the Collegiate Readership Program, this is currently impossible.

In addition to increasing the paper subscription, other proposed possibilities to increase the availability of papers in the dining hall include signs encouraging students to return newspapers after they have finished reading them, instead of throwing them away, leaving them on tables or carrying them from the dining hall.
Discussion about old business carried over from the 2010 fall semester also resumed in the new year. Cook Commons Senator Michael Polebaum ’12 has continued working with the Old Stone Mill in an attempt to gauge and increase faculty support for a Pass/Fail option for classes taken at the College. To be implemented, Pass/Fail would have to be supported by a majority in a full faculty vote.

However, the existence of a majority in favor of Pass/Fail remains uncertain. Until a majority is believed to exist, the SGA is unlikely to push for an immediate vote because a failing vote on the Pass/Fail issue could seriously hinder progress and undo much of the previously accomplished work.

Further discussion of old business included the issue of institutionalizing Midnight Breakfast, instead of annually introducing a resolution to fund the program. While some senators questioned the wisdom of this decision, others proposed that doing so would allow the SGA to more efficiently use its time.

Sophomore Senator Charles Arnowitz ’13 also spoke briefly about two future resolutions to be introduced at the next meeting. The first resolution will support the reinstatement of the R.O.T.C. program on the College campus. The program was ended in the 2001-2002 school year, primarily because of the military’s perceived discriminatory policy against gays and lesbians through the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell legislation.

Because Middlebury lacks its own R.O.T.C. program, participating students must travel to the University of Vermont in Burlington.

The second resolution would focus on raising the SGA’s profile at the College, both by encouraging more voter participation in elections and by raising awareness for SGA issues. A possible component of this resolution could be an amendment to bylaws to streamline how elections are run.

Further information on both of these new resolutions will become available at the next meeting, on Jan 16 at 7 p.m. in the Crest Room.