CAMPUS ACTIVITIES AND OPERATIONS

Leadership Conference featuring Derreck Kayongo

Joan Maze, head of Campus Activities and Operations, stated that this semester’s theme is tapping into individual power to effect both local and global social change. A major event will be the Leadership Conference on February 21st which will feature keynote speaker Derreck Kayongo. He leads the Global Soap Project, a non-profit organization that repurposes and purifies hotel soap for areas around the world that do not have access to basic sanitation. He was one of CNN’s 2011 heroes of the year and has partnered with companies like the Hilton Hotels to accomplish his mission.

The conference will also feature breakout sessions to learn how to organize and run social change projects, including how to effectively use social media, navigating personal and professional challenges in leading social change and fundraising skills. Kayongo will also lead one of the breakout sessions for those interested in hearing more details on his experiences in leading non-profit organizations.
The Mac@Nite activity series will continue this semester. February’s events include Voluntine’s Day (2/14 at 11PM, Weyerhaeuser), a service-based take on Valentine’s Day, and Oscars Red Carpet (2/21 at 9PM, JBD).

The Leadership Workshop series will also be holding two workshops this month: Strengthsquest (2/13, 11:45– 1:00 PM, Davis Court) and Myers Briggs (2/25 11:45 – 1:00 PM, Davis Court). Pre-registration is required for the Strengthsquest workshop.

SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability Plan open to revisions

Starting in February 2015, the Macalester Sustainability Advisory Committee will rewrite the Macalester Sustainability Plan. This revision is part of the semi-regular review process that the committee aims to execute every four to five years. The rewrite will maintain the previous structure of the Plan. Its focus remains on leadership, operations, and education around sustainability on campus.

The update will also make appropriate updates for new programs instituted since the 2011 revision. These new programs include the Real Food Challenge and the ESA (Educating Sustainability Ambassadors) program.

The rewrite is in progress and a draft will be produced by the end of March. At that time, the draft will receive formal feedback and the final draft will be published by Fall 2015.

The revision is currently open to public comments.

DEPARTMENT FOR MULTICULTURAL LIFE

Work study available, Joy DeGruy coming to campus

On Friday 01/23 and Saturday 01/24 the DML organized its 3rd Students of Color Retreat, which was considered a success not only by the organizers, but also by many of its participants.

Last week also, the DML organized an “In The Kitchen” event, promoting the open work study positions for next academic year.

Are you interested in working with the DML? The deadline for applications is on February 15th. There are opening positions for Cultural House manager, Cultural House program assistant, Lealtad-Suzuki Center program assistant, and Emerging Scholars mentor. If you are interested in engaging with others, reflecting on your own identity and having fun, as Karla Benson-Rutten explains, you can find more information about the positions at the DML’s website on Macalester portal.

The DML will also be organizing a Soup and Substance event next Tuesday, February 3, discussing the fight for racial justice on the national and international level. It will take place at the 4th Floor of Old Main and start at 11:30 am.

For this coming weekend, the DML is helping coordinate the Dialogue Arts Project. Taking place on Saturday, February 7, there will be a performance at Kagin Ballroom starting at 8:00 pm. Poets Aaron Samuels, Jon Sands, and Lauren Whitehead will perform a night of theater, poetry, and music on social identity.

Writer Joy DeGruy will be coming to campus on February 17th, as part of the Black History Month events. De Gruy is the author of the book Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing, which addresses the residual impacts of trauma on African descendants in the Americas. This event, sponsored by the DML, will take place at Kagin Ballroom and start at 7:00pm.

PROGRAM BOARD

“Dear White People” tonight, Skyzone trip tomorrow

Program Board is sponsoring a viewing of the movie “Dear White People” this evening at 8 p.m. in JBD (basement of the Campus Center).

Program Board will also be sponsoring a trip to the Skyzone Jumping Arena, the world’s first indoor trampoline park. Tickets sold out this past Monday. The trip will take place this Saturday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

Safer Sex Week, e-cigarettes, ice skating trip coming up

This week is Safer Sex Week. All week, students can submit haikus focused on consent and safer sex. The top two haikus will receive $10 Cheese Shop gift cards. Students can submit their work by emailing [email protected]. On Thursday, February 12, a special edition safer sex kit becomes available. Special edition safer sex kits include Glowing Pleasures condoms, ribbed condoms, flavored lubes, and chocolate. Request forms are available at the HWC mailbox in the lower level of the Campus Center.

This week’s Wellness Wednesday centers on e-cigarettes and public health. Emily Anderson ’03 from the Association for Nonsmokers-MN (ANSR) will speak about e-cigarettes’ health impacts, user statistics, and policy surrounding the use of e-cigarettes. Wellness Wednesdays take place in the Wellness Lounge of the Leonard Center at noon.

On Friday, February 13, the Health and Wellness Center is sponsoring an ice skating trip to Edinborough Park in Edina. The trip will take place from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. Transportation and skates will be provided. Reserve your spot by emailing [email protected].

There are still spots open in two different physical activity classes: hip hop (Thursdays at 9:00 p.m.) and jazz dance (Mondays at 8:00 p.m.) Sign up by emailing [email protected].

MCSG

MCSG establishes agenda, welcomes returning juniors

MCSG’s first two legislative meetings established the agendas for upcoming months. Four junior returnees were voted into committees: Ian Calaway in the SOC, Jolena Zabel in the SSRC, Dan Yee in the FAC, and Will Theriac in the AAC. Calaway was also voted as the new Speaker of the Body. This semester, the AAC plans on supporting Macalester’s test-optional initiative while the SSRC will also initiate a review of Macalester’s Sexual Assault Policy.

TWIN CITIES

Gov. Dayton gains support for taxation plan

The Republican opposition has finally warmed to Gov. Mark Dayton’s most recent budget proposal, but opposition to his transportation proposal among Republicans remains high. Dayton has proposed a $100 million expansion of child care tax credits—a measure that has won the most support among GOP legislators—and wants to close loopholes in corporate tax structure that would garner the state an estimated $17.4 million.

Dayton also proposes ending a working family credit for nonresidents, which would provide a $10.3 million windfall, and deferring property taxes for vulnerable senior citizens.

Minnesota is already anticipating a $1 billion budget surplus, and major disagreements about how to apportion this sum have occurred with great frequency in the last several months.

Dayton’s sizeable $11 billion transportation proposal, which includes increases in the statewide gasoline tax and seven-county metro area sales tax, has become a point of contention, with Republicans leaders questioning the logic of raising taxes when a surplus exists. The new funds would fund mass transit projects and general infrastructure improvements around the state. Minnesota’s highway system, the fifth-largest in the country, is in the bottom third for overall condition and upkeep.

Southwest Light Rail Transit spats continue

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board may face severe financial repercussions for what Gov. Mark Dayton called “…the Board’s continuing efforts to obstruct progress on the Southwest Light Rail Transit project.” Dayton has suggested that the Board’s funding be cut by as much as $3.77 million over the next two years due to its efforts against the Southwest light rail line, which would extend the Green Line into Eden Prairie.

The Board does not want the line to run through Kenilworth Corridor which cuts between Cedar Lake and the Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis, and has asked the Federal Transit Administration to intervene.

There are many who believe there is a workable alternative to the Met Council’s plans for a bridge between the lakes, but the Council has forged ahead and displayed plans for several types of low-impact bridges designed to fit in with the area. A December update on the project’s funding status stated that the Southwest LRT project has obtained 85 percent of the local funding commitments it requires, and is well-positioned to request the 50 percent federal matching grant in 2016.