By Joe Engleman
engleman@grinnell.edu
Pikachu, a Roman emperor and a cow attended Joint Board this week, celebrating Halloween with SGA President Colleen Osborne ’13, who wore a blue blazer and khaki pants. Unfortunately, Presiding Officer Peter Aldrich ’15 was not present. He certainly would have worn the same.
Possibly because of a sugar high provided by Alex Krempely ’13 and his Random Acts of Kindness group, Joint Board ended in under an hour, with few reports and little debate. However, one announcement warranted some discussion.
ACE Coordinator Chloe Griffin ’14 told senators that the now-defunct “senator project” will be revived—senators will be throwing an ACE event in their clusters. This semester, ACE has struggled to find organizers for campus parties.
While a number of senators seemed to accept the idea, others questioned its implementation. Senator Solomon Miller ’13 complained that the announcement was too sudden, and senators from off-campus were not sure where they would host an event.
“If you’re in SGA, you should want to be involved,” Griffin said. “I can’t make it mandatory. I’m not your mom.”
There was one resolution that many senators wanted to be involved in, though. Senator Austin Cote ’15 proposed a dunk tank stunt to increase student involvement in Joint Board. Under his resolution, students will be given the opportunity to dunk a member of SGA, if the student has attended Soap Box at the beginning of each Joint Board session.
“I think this is a great idea. However, we’ve talked about dunk tanks far longer than we’ve talked about breathalyzers or harm reduction,” Senator Sam Mulopulos ’14 said, wondering if it was a good idea to implement the idea via a resolution. Nobody wondered if it was a good idea to turn student government into a carnival sideshow.
Osborne announced in her cabinet report that she is now a member of the College’s Committee on Financial Aid and Admissions.
“At the end of the semester, we will put in our two cents with the Board of Trustees,” she said, referring to Grinnell’s financial concerns. “We want students to, as well.”
SGA is planning more outreach and communication with Grinnellians, including town hall meetings, to make a thorough and helpful recommendation to the Board of Trustees at the end of the semester.
VPSA Sivan Philo ’13 updated Joint Board on the College’s search for an Ombudsman. The selection committee has already met with two candidates, and it plans to interview a third on Monday. Services Coordinator Zafreen Farishta ’13 announced that FM Appreciation Week will be held at the beginning of December, and Outreach Director Chinar Verma ’13 reported that 20 percent of the student body participated in the SGA-sponsored survey in October.
Finally, Concerts Chair Pooj Padmaraj ’13, dressed in a cow costume, informed senators that the band “Those Darlins” will be performing country music in Gardner on Friday night. They will be joined by “Heavy Cream”, who will also be performing “moo-sic.”
