Questions for Stand Columbia

There are many policies that you plan to enact to the point that there are almost too many-they span everything from the drop deadline to "promoting community service" yet there are no detailed plans on how the Stand Party plans to implement policies. Let's use one of the subsections of the Academics section as a starting point. How will you go about implementing the Hamilton Hours section? Will you simply meet with administration to make it possible? Will you poll the Columbia undergraduate community to see if they actually would like extended Hamilton hours and then go about implementation? For the record, I am not questioning the Hamilton hours issue, but more interested in how the party will actually be going about implementation of policies.

For the final grade deadlines issue in the academic portion of your platform, you mention the students' anxiety and stress. However, there is considerable pressure on professors at Columbia to publish as well as other pressures to gain tenure-and we all know that Columbia administration caters more to the professors and research funding they garner than students. How will you actually overcome this obstacle in reducing the final grades deadline?

Can you give an example of a core event that you have had to pay for? Are students permitted now to reach out to their core professors or instructors to speak on their particular financial situation to alleviate this stress? Is working on this policy actually a valuable use of time if a student is allowed to ask a professor for alleviation of financial stress currently?

In your policy, it is stated that "a relatively small number of CC students actually smoke according to scientific surveys." What are these "scientific surveys?" I am aware of a survey conducted via e-mail during my time at Columbia, but what is the actual scientific validity of this survey-was there a high enough response rate for the survey to be a good sample (this is probably the only time I've used something I learned in econometrics/frontiers)? Also, what about occasional smokers like myself? I do not classify myself as a smoker, yet in the situation that I would like a cigarette (which is usually caused by stress that Columbia campus life induces), where would an area that is "easily accessible, yet without a negative impact on other students" be? Low Library roof? That would be awesome.

To see the rest of Sajaa's questions, hit the jump.

Define "weekly adventure." How can one plan an adventure-by definition isn't an adventure unplanned (ok this one is a little rude but I am caught up in definitions and semantics obviously).

How do you plan to distribute this lawn schedule? Why do we need to distribute a lawn schedule when we could just display a schedule on the lawn?

What is the "fine-tuning" process on the flyer policy of CCSC? Do you have more tangible ideas about the flyering policy?

Will student leadership grants be retroactive? Meaning will I get some compensation? Just kidding-but are there any other schools that offer "leadership grants?"

As a member of the Columbia community who has spent considerable time and energy on community service events (esp. in Rotaract Club), I know firsthand that in general, Columbia students are not as involved as they could be in community service. How do you actually plan to promote Community Impact, and why do you exclude other service groups, specifically SGB service groups? Sorry this is shameless self-promotion. Additionally, do you personally think that community service should be mandated-how does one mandate volunteerism? Is there a value in large-scale one-time events like CCO which actually spend more money and offer less service than programs like DDC weekly tutoring?

Structural question on your platform-why are club sports and service categories not subsumed into the student group portion of your platform? For me, I see three portions of your platform and not five. Explain.

ReNew Columbia

For the issue of posting syllabi before classes begin, how far in advance do you plan to impose this posting? As a back of the envelope calculation, how many Columbia College students would you say prepare readings for let's say, a Principles of Economics class, in advance during the spring semester?
Do SEAS students not cheat? Is that why they are not given as an example in the Judicial Protocol cheating example? Since at least Barnard and Columbia have different administrations, should there actually be the same judicial policy? How do you plan to impose this?

Will this new Columbia craigslist have a missed connections section or men seeking men, women seeking men, etc? Isn't frantically scrambling to find a roommate what makes the college experience so special? Just kidding, but really I am interested in the missed connections section.
Why do you only want to get top chefs from New York City? What about the rest of the world and country? Who will vote on these top chefs? Will Padma Lakshmi be involved? If so, I plan on failing some of my classes to be around next semester to see this implemented.

Something I fundamentally do not understand is the time and energy placed into the academic calendar. While many students are inconvenienced by having to go home so close to Christmas in terms of price of a flight, don't you think we are fundamentally elevating the status of Christmas above other religious holidays by accommodating it in this way and spending so much time and energy talking about it? And actually, how many students are paying the extra fee out of their own pockets-meaning they are using money that they have earned to pay for the extra charge of the plane tickets? Why does ReNew think this same time and energy being spent on other policies which are in much more dire need of reformation, such as health services or the sexual assault policy?

What do you mean by "students will have input on what advising should look like?" Does this mean aesthetically? Why exactly should students have input on what an adviser's office should look like if this is the case? Does aesthetics matter in advising? How will the MyGroups feature inform advisers about the extracurricular activities of their students? Do academic advisers even know/use this feature?
Do you have any plans to bolster major advising?

As someone who does reimbursements quite frequently, what is an A-4 sheet? Also, do you think this P-card issue will come to fruition anytime soon given that Columbia finances seems to love e-forms so much? Will groups have to still get adviser approval each time they make a purchase-if not, how will you prevent an individual like myself from not doing their grocery shopping on the CPU p-card and writing it off as "refreshments for event?"

What are your plans to increase participation in community service on Columbia's campus?
Your platform specifically mentions Melissa and Anum working on two of the initiatives. What are the rest of you doing?

Questions for CU NAKED

Will I be compensated for the advising I have given to underclassmen students over the years? It seems like if CUNaked and Stand Columbia's initiatives come to fruition, I would have made some money in my time at Columbia. Am I bitter that my own class council didn't push for these things? Perhaps. But seriously, will the students work for the CSA office and in conjunction with advisers, or will this peer to peer counseling be advised by CCSC?

What is "everything in your power" for conserving study days? What does that entail? What are the actual powers of CCSC as enumerated by its Constitution? Do you think CCSC actually has any power over the administration? How many administrators were contacted about these debates, and how many are actually here?

Why spend so much time on creating excursions to Boston and Philly? We're in New York. I came to Columbia because I thought Philadelphia was boring. Why spend money on excursions out of NYC rather than within the city? Another back of the envelope question: what percentage of Columbia College spring semester seniors do you think are looking to go on excursions outside of New York City?

Did Beezly think of the giant game of hide and go seek? I need to know. How will you make sure mail services gets me my mail on time? Will there be a CCSC proctor in the mail room to ensure the mail room employees are not fooling around? Does anyone know why our mailroom is so slow? This semester, I sent something to a cousin in California whose package was received in the allotted time but when my own mother sent a crucial medicine from New Jersey, it took five days despite the fact that she had overnighted it. Do you have any insight into why mail services is so slow?

How do you plan to connect to Jack Kerouac exactly? Does CUNaked participate or promote Ouji? I'm confused. What do you mean by connecting to alums purely for personal reasons? Will the alumni database include photos? Isn't this why facebook exists? I'm still confused.

So for people craving JJ's mozzarella sticks after 2AM who now have access to a website that tells them JJ's is closed after 2AM, how is their problem resolved? Will there be a list of eateries that offer mozzarella sticks after 2AM be made available?

I like being called nerdy. Why is this Columbia Core lounge banning the use of the word? If the Butler space is used for this, how will it be used for eating given that every time I bring a bag into Butler it is immediately confiscated to find out if there is any food, and I am banned for Butler even if I have a bag of flour that I purchased and was planning to take to my suite after my Butler trip? On this note, are you planning to do anything about this?

Do you think beurocratic limbo is the same as Dante's limbo? What are the similarities and differences? Can you name some characters in Dante's limbo? Sorry to get lithum on you I just found the term funny and accurate

You said "making a purchase for a student group is almost as hard as an orgo exam" in your platform. But I find that waiting for my $200 reimbursement for the past month and a half has been more difficult than an orgo exam given that it has caused me a lot of financial distress. Do you have any thoughts on this?

General Questions

None of your parties mention anything about Columbia's "red light" status on its sexual assault policy. Does your party plan to address this issue? What is your knowledge level on the issue (if they don't know about it, I do plan to tell them-James, if you feel that this is a bit too brutal, please let me know and I can pose the question where I tell them what the problem with the sexual assault policy is)? For me personally, this is a policy that CCSC needs to be a priority over the academic calendar. There is no reason, in my view, for our status as such.

Do any of you have any plans to reform Columbia Health Services? Any thoughts on the status of the CPS scheduling system which requires an intake appointment with a therapist you don't known before you can get an appointment? Do you think since Health Services is a separate entity and not part of student services-that is, it is not overseen by Dean Shollenberger or the office of student affairs, that is does not need to be advocated for by CCSC?

If you were taking out Dean Moody Adams on a date in the Morningside Heights area, where would you go and why?

What is your most embarrassing moment at Columbia? Mine is falling down the steps of the Heights in front of around 20 people or perhaps having a meltdown when my room request was denied which caused Carol Arnold to offer a lollipop in commiseration-this way it is fair question since I've admitted mine.
Do you have any questions for me-I think allowing each party to ask me one would make it funny and see what they thought of my moderating.