At the MCSG meeting on Tuesday, November 1, the FAC gave additional allocations to two student orgs. The first was $975 to AIPAC for an art workshop and performance event, with 29 votes in favor. Most of the money will go to the workshop host, a local artist. This allocation came from the operating fund, which is the money given to orgs for short term projects. There was some discussion of the lofty sum, but it was decided that it makes sense to give so much money since both the workshop and event will be open to the public. WMCN also received $2,323.35 for a new Emergency Alert System with 29 votes in favor. This system is mandated by federal regulation and broadcasts public alerts, such as weather alerts or AMBER alerts. This money came from the capital fund, which is dedicated to long-term purchases. As recently as five years ago, there had been no other additional allocations requested for an Emergency Alert System. There was not much discussion regarding the allocation as it is a federal regulation for any radio station.
PB advertised ice skating this coming Saturday, November 5. PB Chair Olivia Doe ’18 emphasized that students can still go without a ticket since Macalester rented the entire rink. The ticket guarantees transportation, so other students just have to find their own ride. Doe also reminded MCSG members to buy Winter Ball tickets as the later times are already sold out. It will be held at the Minneapolis Event Center on November 18, and Café Mac will open at 4:30 pm that night for dinner.
The AAC Textbook Reserve bill passed with 29 votes in favor.
The Annual Fund’s Pay it Forward Fellow Adan Martinez ’16 visited MCSG to talk about Give To Macalester Day (GTMD). It’s an annual 24-hour giving campaign that is more productive in terms of number of donors than the entire month of May, the busiest of the fiscal year. From GTMD, 42 percent goes to faculty and staff programming and student research, 32 percent goes to financial aid, 15 percent goes to study away and internships, and 10 percent goes to day-to-day operations. At GTMD 1.0 in 2015, there were 180 first-time givers, 1800 total donors, and 50 percent on donations were from young alumni and professors. This year, at GTMD 2.0, the operations will be located at The Hub upstairs in the CC as well as a presence outside of the CC (the call center, coffee carts, online, chalking and the Rock). Students are encouraged to get involved by making a gift, posting on social media or visiting The Hub. Giving does count towards the Class of 2017 Senior Gift.
SOC presented two new orgs to be voted on next week. The first org was Fossil Free Mac (FFM). Although not a new organization, it has been operating as a function of MacCARES. But now, FFM is looking to branch off to operate independently. While MacCARES focuses primarily on campus sustainability, FFM looks more broadly at the big picture, divestment being its major project. The main benefits of being chartered would be a separate budget and the ability to be more focused. There was some discussion about its leadership structure, which consists of “core leaders,” an idea adapted from Swarthmore’s Fossil Free group, rather than a hierarchy. MCSG’s main concern was the lack of accountability for budgetary duties, but FFM agreed to revisit that in the charter. Overall, the fresh look at leadership was well-received. The second org presenting a charter was Macalester Dance Marathon. Their focus on community partnerships for their big event, a dance marathon, was intriguing to MCSG. There was little debate about their charter, the discussion was more based on logistics and formalities.
The two student representatives from the Resources and Planning Committee (RPC) came to update MCSG on their roles within the committee. They talked about the meaning of their part in long term college planning. They were largely pleased with the receptiveness of the committee to their input, and expressed that they hope for increased student input in the activities of the SPC.
