Mug-Stealing Thugs = Hiding the Grub
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During last week’s Associated Students of Pomona College (ASPC) Senate meeting, North Campus Representative and Food Committee Chair Tracy Zhao PO ’13 reminded Senate that the dining halls will soon be promoting their annual Amnesty Program, in which students can return roughly $900,0001 worth of stolen plates, cups, mugs, ICEE machines, Coke Freestyle® machines, and neutrality agreements. Zhao added that apparently because so many mugs are stolen from dining halls, dining staff has been deliberately withholding “good food” from students. Amnesty program? This is starting to sound like more of a hostage trade-off.
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1Not the actual amount, but it’s fun sometimes to remember how much dining services lost after Pomona decided to self-manage things.
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Plan B Needs a Plan B…
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A few months ago, senators proposed the idea of installing a Plan B vending machine to give students the privacy and agency to purchase emergency contraceptives the same way they get a Red Bull. However, the plan has run into some issues, namely that the machine would need to be installed in a place where there is a licensed physician. Simple enough, in theory, but the problem is, according to Senate advisor Piya Bose, apparently there isn’t a licensed physician at the 5Cs. Kinda makes you wonder about how everyone has already been getting Plan B from Student Health Services for all this time1…
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1Anyone else excited for the return of Breaking Bad?
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You Get a Stipend! And You Get a Stipend! And You Get a Stipend!
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At various times during the year, senators have brought up the issue of providing stipends for Senate members other than the president and vice presidents, who already receive yearly stipends. In last week’s meeting, President Sarah Appelbaum PO ’13 decided to resolve the issue once and for all and put it to a vote.
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Prior to the vote, a committee had been formed to research how much Senate could afford to pay in stipends and where those funds would come from. The committee returned with the finding that ASPC could afford to pay each senator a stipend of $800 for one year’s worth of work1. To pay for these stipends, Senate will dip into its reserve funds for two years until the Metate (Pomona’s ex-yearbook) pays off its leftover debt. As soon as the debt is paid off, ASPC funds that used to support the Metate will go toward paying for stipends.
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Before the discussion got very far, it was brought to the attention of Senate that perhaps it would be a conflict of interest for current senators to vote on giving themselves a pay raise if they would be in Senate next year. However, the only current senator who will definitely be serving in Senate again next year (High Chancellor of Clubs, Sports, and Doughnuts Emma Wolfarth PO ’14) was ironically the only senator opposed to the idea of stipends. Wolfarth clarified for the record, though, that while she was opposed to the idea, she would still gladly accept her $800 check without thinking twice2.
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Long story short, Senate ultimately voted to reward all of the progress they made this year as a collective governing body3, to which Wolfarth responded (and this is no joke): “I’M RICH, BITCH!”
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All humor aside, looking into the future, hopefully this means that senators will feel a bit more responsible to their duties and their constituents. Hopefully this means that the ASPC Senate will take itself seriously as a group of intelligent, influential individuals that can serve as an advocate for students and work collectively to improve the already incredible school we attend. Hopefully this means that next year’s Senate will collectively accomplish more than defunding a yearbook and instead of investing it in alternative student publications4 giving it right back to a system that really seems to have accomplished nothing other than maintaining the status quo.
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But most importantly, hopefully this means that TSL will follow suit and give me a damn pay raise for going to these meetings.
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1Approximately 34 µHours
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2Well … duh.
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3Say THAT with a straight face.
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4Call me biased. Go ahead. I am. I’m also informed.