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The Mac Weekly asked the advocates of fixed-cost rollover ideas to explain why students should vote for their ideas in this week’s vote allocating the $50,000 windfall. Improving Bike Infrastructure Imagine a campus on which you could park your bicycle at a secure rack under a covered shelter, safe from rain, snow, and everything in between. Covered racks will protect your bike during the harsh winter, preventing rust and water damage. Additionally, if you’re a student who doesn’t currently own a bicycle, imagine being able to use Macalester’s bikeshare program with the confidence that a bike in flawless working order will be readily available. If you find these possibilities exciting and worthwhile, please vote for “Improving Bicycle Infrastructure” on the rollover ballot! Covered racks and reliable bikeshare bikes are practical improvements that will provide lasting positive impact. Bicycling brings people together, is environmentally friendly, and is incredible fun! Enhancement of Student Spaces With the completion of the Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center, there will be a multitude of student spaces that will be reclaimed, such as spaces in GDD, the “Turck-Out” Lounge, 10K etc. Wouldn’t it be neat if there were an amount of money set aside and earmarked for the enhancement of student spaces? The money could be used specifically for things that the school wouldn’t buy otherwise, such as materials for a new stage, a new speaker system for shows, lighting, couches, televisions, etc. A committee could be formed from members of MCSG, Program Board, and the greater student body to determine what is appropriate to fund, and the student body could submit and vote on these proposals. Student Investment Fund The Student Socially Responsible Investment Fund (SSRIF) would be a pool of money to invest in companies and other structures known to have socially and environmentally responsible business practices. The Student Endowment Responsibility Committee (SERC*) will decide where to invest the money—depending on how Macalester students define social responsibility—with support from the Investment Office, sponsored faculty and interested alumni. As our investments succeed, this fund will return profits to student activities while also allowing for the growth of the fund. The SSRIF would be the first of its kind in the country. It would serve as a sustainable model for a socially responsible endowment, applying its methods to our endowment and to others across the country. An endowment made for the students, by the students, from the students. Ice Rink on Shaw, football field Minnesota winters are all glum and no fun, right? Nope. Not the case. We want to show you all fun to be had as the temperature drops, the snow piles up, and you bundle up. We think the best way to do this is by building an ice rink here on campus (on the football field to be specific). An ice rink can be incredibly versatile and has something for everyone to enjoy from an exhilarating game of pick up hockey, to a romantic hand-in-hand skate with that special someone, to the excitement (and comedy) of learning to skate for the first time. Don’t have any skates? Don’t worry. We will be using a portion of the rollover money to buy usedskates to loan out for free. So be sure to take advantage of the fun that Minnesota winters can offer and vote for an ice rink on campus on the upcoming ballot!
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