The Newest Clubs on Campus

By Noa Maltzman ’18, News Editor

Last March a group of students began working to start a UNICEF club here at Skidmore. The UNICEF Campus Initiative became an official Student Government Association (SGA) club on Feb. 3 this year, but it was after a lot of time, work and dedication from the club leaders.

“Starting a club is just as everyone says it is, it’s hard,” said Monica Villegas ’16, who is the current president of Amici D’Italia. Amici D'Italia is another group that is in the process of working to hopefully become an official club here at Skidmore.

Villegas who was born and raised in Italy speaking Italian wanted to start Amici D’Italia “because I want people to learn about the Italian culture and know it as I know it.”

The founding members of UNICEF wanted to make it an official club on campus for many reasons. One of their main reasons was that UNICEF USA requires that any UNICEF Campus Initiative be an official club on its respective campus. Another reason was so they would have their own funding and because they felt, “people might not want to be a part of something that is not already established [as an official club] because they fear that the club might disappear one day and their active participation might not be recognized later on,” said Alexandra Palthey ’16, UNICEF Club President.

“Being an SGA club gives you SGA's full support, commitment, and backing. The club also gets a budget through SGA funds,” said Megan Schacter ’17 Vice-President for Club Affairs, when she was asked about the advantage of being a full club.

The process for becoming a club begins when those hoping to start a club meet with the Vice President for Club Affairs. After this meeting, the club fills out an intent to organize form and works to collect 300 signatures from members of the student body. Recently Big Brothers Big Sisters was in the D-hall Atrium tabling to get people to sign their name on their club list in hopes of helping them to become a club.

Once the club has the 300 signatures, they meet with the Club Affairs Committee (CAC). Here, they explain issues like why they want to start a club and their plans for the club. The CAC then votes to put them on an eight-week trial period or not. During this time, they function as a full SGA club. Four weeks into the trial process, the club leaders meet with the Vice President for Club Affairs for a check in meeting to discuss how things are going. Then, at the end of the eight weeks, the club goes back to CAC to prove that they are ready to be a full club. CAC then votes to endorse the club to senate or not. With or without the endorsement, the club can then go to senate, where the senators vote on whether to provide a charter.

Amici D’Italia just ended their trial period on March 4. During their trial period, they hosted bi-weekly meetings and a showing of the best foreign film of 2014, the Italian film “The Great Beauty.”

This isn’t how the process has always been. During Schacter’s term as Vice President for Club Affairs, she has been working to change the process. “This year, I lengthened the trial period to eight weeks from the original four weeks, in order to give groups more time to prepare and strengthen themselves before coming to CAC and Senate for charter approval.”

Additionally, Schacter said that she is working to change the current polices; so that on the same day Senate approves the club charter, they will also approve the club’s budget. “This will eliminate any lag time between when a group is chartered and when they receive their budget,” said Schacter.

UNICEF’s process for becoming a club took a longer then usual and differed from the typical process described above because when they began the process of becoming a club, “we went to SGA asking to be a club, and they assigned us under Benef-Action, citing that we are a community [service] club,” said Anh Vu L Nguyen ’17, a co-founder of UNICEF at Skidmore. The founders of the club though soon realized that Benef-Action was pretty different in their approaches and aims compared to UNICEF, so UNICEF club founders want back to SGA in late April to become their own official club. SGA told Unicef to come back in the fall though, as they were too late in the year.

At the beginning of this school year, UNICEF got to meet with the CAC and SGA and begin a trial period for their club. The trial period lasted almost the entire fall 2014 semester, and during this time the club hosted many events and collaborated with other clubs. “One of the most successful series of events that we did was the Halloween week,” said Nguyen.

Not only did UNICEF have to prove that they could host events and operate as a club during their trial period, but they also had to show that the club could be sustainable. “We had a change in leadership, and that showed that there were people other than the e-board then who want to be with the club,” said Nguyen.

Hard work by the UNICEF leaders paid off and the club became an official SGA club in early February, but it is currently unknown if hard work will pay off for Amici D’Italia, like it did for UNICEF, and if SGA will vote in favor of making them a club.

Campus Safety Reports Feb. 20 - Feb. 26

Friday Feb. 20 Drug Law Violation at Moore Way 9:07 PM: Officers report a drug law violation.

Suspicious Odor McClellan 10:46 PM: Officer reports a drug and alcohol violation.

Saturday Feb. 21

College Violation Dayton Drive 1:28 AM: RP reports noise complaint. Dispatched officers. Occupants agreed to lower music.

Suspicious Odor Jonsson Tower 9:17 PM: RP reports a suspicious odor outside the basement. Officer dispatched. Unfounded – no odor present upon their arrival.

College Violation Moore Way 11:37 PM: RP reports a loud party. Disp. Officers who report locating two apartments with loud music. Both were asked to lower the volumes and both complied without further incident.

Sunday Feb. 22

Criminal Mischief Kimball Hall: 12:27am - Officer discovered the vending machine in the first floor lobby had been tipped over or rocked as the items were dislodged from their holders. Photo taken. No known witnesses at this time.

Criminal Mischief McClellan Hall 2:21am - RP states residents just woke her up stating a loud group of males put a very large hole in the hallway wall. No known suspects and no descriptions available. Advised Officers.

Criminal Mischief McClellan Hall 2:36am - RP contacted Campus Safety stating he just observed a male punch a hole in the wall on the 2nd floor. Disp. Officers.

Suspicious Activity Perimeter Road 2:22am - RP observed a male walking in the middle of the Perimeter Road, staggering and feels that he may get hurt. Disp. Officer who conducted a search of the area as well as Clinton Street to no avail. Subject apparently GOA at this time.

Criminal Mischief Wiecking Hall 11:56am: RP reports broken light bulb and cover. Officer dispatched. Advised Housekeeping and Maintenance as well for clean-up and repairs.

Fire Alarm Sussman Apartments 6:15pm: Fire alarm sounded on the DMP Computer for Sussman B. Disp. Officers, Maintenance and advised SSFD. Resident called stating the alarm is due to them cooking and there is no problem.

Suspicious Odor Jonsson Tower11:36pm: RP called stating there is an odor of marijuana on the second floor. Disp. Officer who reports unable to locate any source of the odor at this time.

Monday Feb. 23

Fire Alarm Sussman Apartments 6:33 PM: Fire alarm activation received. Disp. Officers, Maintenance and advised SSFD.

Suspicious Odor Campus Wide 9:00 PM: RP called to report problematic emails that are being sent to the class of 2015 list. Disp. officer.

Fire Alarm Sussman Apartments 10:38 PM: Fire alarm activation received. Disp. Officers, Maintenance and advised SSFD. Officers report alarm due to cooking.

Suspicious Odor McClellan Hall 11:21 PM: Suspicious odor report received. Disp. Officers.

College Violation Penfield Hall 10:47 PM: RP called to report a noise complaint. Disp. Officers reported upon arrival found a person in the area reading. No further problems at this time.

Tuesday Feb. 24

Accident Wilmarth Hall 3:30 pm. RP reports a window was broken accidentally. Disp. Officer.

Wednesday Feb. 25

College Violation Wait Hall 1:10 AM: RP stated loud noise. Officer dispatched.

Criminal Mischief McClellan Hall 7:49AM: RP reports a hole in the wall in the stairwell. Officer dispatched and took photos. Canvassed area for witnesses or perpetrators with negative results.

Fire Alarm Sussman Apartments 1:29PM: Received a fire alarm. Dispatched Officers, Maintenance and advised SSFD. Source found to be cooking.

Fire Alarm Sussman Apartments 3:46 pm Received a Fire Alarm. Dispatched Officers, Maintenance and advised SSFD. Resident reports cooking was the cause of the alarm. Advised Officers, Maintenance and SSFD.

Thursday Feb. 26

Suspicious Odor Jonsson Tower 4:50 PM: RP reports suspicious odor in north stairwell. RP cannot locate source. Disp. Officer who could not locate source.

Suspicious Odor Wait Hall 10:31 PM RP reports a suspicious odor. Disp. Officers.

Open Letter to the Community

Dear Friends, Peers, Classmates, and all Skidmore Community Members,

As members of this community, we are writing in support of the recent efforts to bring attention to sexual and gender-based misconduct (SGBM) at Skidmore. This is an issue we have been working as SGA to address since the start of the academic year. Through the It's Happening Here campaign and our work with the Advisory Council on SGBM, we have made strides to effect concrete policy changes that prioritize student safety and promote a zero-tolerance environment. Reina Kiefer’s readmission hearing protest on March 13 is one of the many examples of activism we have been calling for this year. We urge students to attend this peaceful protest to show our Student Body’s support for survivors across our campus. SGBM happens far too often at Skidmore and, as students, we must stand up together and work to prevent it.

It is time to become the zero-tolerance campus we wish to be. When a community member commits a sexual crime, we should not welcome that person on our campus. SGA has been working with the Advisory Council, the Vice President/Dean of Student Affairs, and other parties to make significant revisions to the SGBM policy, including:

1. Changing sanction language to state that the College expects the SGBM Hearing Board to expel students found in violation in all cases of SGBM.
2. When the Board does not choose expulsion, it must justify its decision in a written rationale for the case's official record, which would be available to both parties.
3. Expanding definitions of SGBM to include types of misconduct Skidmore does not currently account for, such as emotional and financial abuse.

Thanks to the work of the many student leaders and the responsiveness of the Advisory Council to our serious recommendations, we are happy to announce that changes along these lines and more are likely to be added to the official policy very soon.

We know the numbers. Too many students of all genders experience SGBM while at college. Furthermore, the statistics available to us at this moment suggest that offenders will take advantage of other individuals more than once. According to Jed Rubenfeld in his 2014 New York Times article, Mishandling Rape, “Research suggests that more than 90 percent of campus rapes are committed by a relatively small percentage of college men — possibly as few as 4 percent — who rape repeatedly, averaging six victims each. Yet these serial rapists overwhelmingly remain at large, escaping serious punishment.” At the start of this year, we knew we needed to work toward practices that acknowledge this reality and adequately sanction all sexual offenders.

We are proud to say that progress has already been made so that students will not have to go through what Reina is going through moving forward. However, at this moment, there are wrongs that must be corrected if Skidmore truly does hold its community values to a high standard. We are here to represent and stand by each and every student on this campus and to advocate for what is right.

As student leaders -- but most importantly, as Skidmore students -- who have taken on this task of advocating for changes to our policy and culture, we have been heartbroken and humbled to hear stories from our friends and peers who have experienced SGBM at Skidmore. Whatever our policies may state, in the very real experiences of these innocent survivors, Skidmore does not always appear to prioritize their needs over those of the individuals found in violation.

To Hearing Board administrators and faculty: We implore you to remember the voice of the student body and the changes we have been advocating. Do not allow rapists to be a part of our community.

To the students: We urge you to take notice of this issue, educate yourself, and take steps to establish yourself as our ally against SGBM. We look forward to changes not only to our policy, but also to our culture, and we need your commitment to achieve that end.

To survivors: We admire your strength, and we offer you our advocacy as peers and friends. Please know that you have the support of an overwhelming majority of students and their representatives through SGA. We respect the difficult burden that you must bear, and we hope that the increased attention drawn to this issue will serve to combat without causing further harm.

We hope that our friends, peers, and classmates become our allies in setting Skidmore's community standards on sexual and gender-based misconduct to a level as high we believe they should be.

Sincerely,

Soraya and Addison

Soraya Attia                                                                Addison Bennett

Senior Class President                                   Student Government Association President

Marta Brunner Announced as New College Librarian

 

By Noa Maltzman ’18, News Editor

Skidmore College recently announced that Marta Brunner would be the new college librarian. Brunner will be replacing Ruth Copans, who will be retiring this year. Copans has been at Skidmore since 1991 and has served as the college librarian for over a decade.

Brunner, who is originally a graduate of Goshen College in Goshen Indiana, is coming to Skidmore from the University of California Los Angles. Currently, she is the head of Collections, Research, and Instructional Services at the Charles E. Young Research Library at UCLA.

Brunner was one of forty people who applied for the job. The search committee—made up of students, faculty, and staff—worked with Storbeck/Pimentel to conduct a national search and narrow down the list of forty candidates. Out of the forty candidates, ten were invited to do Skype interviews. “We spent more than an hour talking to each candidate,” said Linda Hall, professor of English and member of the search committee. Four of the ten candidates, including Brunner, were invited to campus this past December. Ultimately, of the four of them, the search committee choose Brunner to be the new librarian.

Everyone on the committee was looking for something different in the new librarian, but Sam Harris ’15, a student member on the committee, said that “it was clear that the new head librarian needed to be someone with a strong vision of where libraries and academia are going, someone who works very well managing others, and someone who really fits into our very specific community.”

Bringing a student perspective to the committee, Harris said that he and Shannon Keane '15 “were focused on finding someone who prioritized student involvement in the direction of the library, as well as someone who was invested in student research. The library is an incredible resource, and we wanted someone who wanted to help students utilize the library in the best way possible.”

Copans had the unique opportunity of meeting one-on-one with each of the four candidates who were brought to campus, and when asked if she had any advice for Brunner she said, “I guess my one piece of advice would be to take whatever time she needs to understand the local culture, and what our students, faculty, and staff expect of the library.”

Though Brunner is coming “from a large university system, she has a keen interest in the digital humanities that will serve her well at Skidmore,” said Bill Duffy, the Chief Technology Officer.

“Despite my rewarding experiences at UCLA and other large universities over the past fifteen years or so, the prospect of continuing my career at Skidmore College feels like coming home for me,” said Brunner in her cover letter. Brunner will officially be joining the Skidmore community in July. “Marta has some rather large shoes to fill, though everyone on the search committee is confident in her ability to even exceed our expectations,” said Harris.

Skidmore College considers divestment from fossil fuel companies

There has been increasing momentum in addressing the mounting issue of climate change in recent years. Since 2013, the Task Force on Divestment (TFD) at Skidmore College has been conducting research on the possibility of divesting the College’s investments from fossil fuel companies at the behest of student activists and the Student Government Association (SGA). In February of 2015, the TFD released the first assessment of a two-part process which ends with a recommendation to the Board of Trustees concerning divestment from fossil fuels. Their Divestment Review details the ethical significance of divestment from fossil fuels and provides a cost-benefit analysis done by Colonial Consulting, Skidmore's investment advisor.

The TFD upholds the environmental and social responsibilities of the College as a corporate citizen of the world. The report states:

“Skidmore has recognized the important role that institutions of higher education must play in major societal issues, and this is reflected in our institutional strategic goal of preparing every student to make the choices of an informed, responsible citizen at home and in the world. Furthermore, we acknowledge the deep connection between our commitment to responsible citizenship and our institutional behavior - especially in the realm of environmental awareness and sustainability.”

The TFD is responding to the urgency of reducing carbon emissions in order to prevent the irreversible negative impacts of global warming. These consequences were delineated by 44 scientific institutions from over a dozen countries in The Emissions Gap Report 2013. The report warns that if carbon emissions are not substantially cut by 2020, global temperatures will rise beyond the two degrees Celsius which the scientific community uses as the threshold beyond which global warming will incur irreversible ecological damage. Divestment is a strategy that, although would have little effect on the market value of fossil fuel companies, would send a message to these companies and to the general public. The report states:

“Arguments cited in favor of fossil fuel divestment… focus more on financial risk (to the investor), matching investment decisions with values, creating sustained public pressure and visibility, and finally, fostering an informed public debate.”

The TFD recognizes that the college is undergoing a moral as well as a financial deliberation. Skidmore is not alone nor is it the first; a large number of colleges and universities in the United States and elsewhere have decided on the issue of divestment from fossil fuels. Among those who chose divestment are Pitzer College, Stanford University, Hampshire College, University of Dayton, and Unity College. Reasons cited for the decision to divest include a desire for global sustainability , to support sustainable local enterprises, and to reduce environmental social inequality. Among those who chose not to divest are Vassar College, Bates College, Harvard University, Brown University, and Wellesley College. Reasons cited for the decision to not divest were primarily financial: divestment was seen as too difficult due to the complex and conglomerated nature of the investments and/or comparable non-fossil fuel investment alternatives were unable to be found.

Skidmore’s investment portfolio is also complex and conglomerated, containing many hedge funds with multiple investments in fossil fuel companies. Divestment would not be as straightforward as pulling out from fossil fuel companies directly. Since hedge funds are generally unwilling to tailor a portfolio for a specific client, divestment would require removing all funds from these hedge funds. The report states:

“Skidmore's total investment funds of about $377 million are actively managed by 40-50 managers in largely comingled funds, and our endowment income supports everything from scholarships to personnel to collaborative research. Based on an analysis by Colonial Consulting, we currently invest between 3-5 percent of our endowment in fossil-fuel assets.”

Although research has been undertaken to explore the effects of divestment on the finances of other colleges and universities that made the decision to divest, the results are inconclusive due to the recent nature of these divestments and the time-lag between the decision to divest and divestment actions.

Colonial Consulting “forecasts that full divestment would reduce the financial return on the endowment (over the next 10 years) from 8.3 percent annually to 6.4 percent annually, resulting in an endowment value that is $120 million lower than it would have been without divesting from fossil fuels.”

The TFD requests that the public keep in mind the assumptions underlying the assessments of Colonial Consulting. Colonial Consulting remains optimistic about investing in fossil fuel use and simultaneously protecting the environment. In addition, Colonial Consulting believes that the best and most experienced investment managers invest in fossil fuels, and diverting funds to a different manager, even if environmentally conscious, would mean a lower rate of return on investment.

The TFD expresses hopes that the Skidmore community will participate in this momentous deliberation. Open forums are expected to be held on Wednesday, Feb. 25. Times and places are to be announced shortly.

To read the full report, view: file:///home/chronos/u-656d88bce741d62fed8dc984d84fb72a2147bdf8/Downloads/Final%20Phase%201%20Report%20Feb%2013%20(1).pdf

AOD Policy Under Review

By Noa Maltzman ’18, News Editor

A few times this semester, Skidmore students have received requests to share their opinions on the current Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) policy, here at Skidmore. The first request came in the form of an email from Jennifer McDonald, Director of Health Promotions. McDonald asked that students attend an open forum on Jan 29 so they could voice their opinion heard on the future of the AOD policy.   The second request came a few weeks later, and this time students were urged to fill out a survey on their opinions on the AOD policy.

“We were disappointed that the turnout to the open forum was really low ’cause [sic] that was a great opportunity we would have had to chat with students, and very few people actually came,” said McDonald. Though attendance might have been low at the open forum, so far about 400 students have filled out the survey.

“We review the policy continually and then every five years or so it is time for a really thorough look at it and sort of an overhaul,” said McDonald. The last time the policy went under a thorough review was five years ago.

McDonald wrote in an email to the students that, “the AOD Task Force is currently reviewing the College’s alcohol and other drug policies and procedures with a goal of launching a new policy at the start of the fall, 2015 semester.” They are currently working on what exactly these changes will entail.

“This is our semester where we are actually drafting a new policy. Towards the end of the semester we will have opportunities for students to actually give feedback before we actually go live with the policy,” said McDonald. With this in mind, the exact changes to the policy are unknown, but those working on the new policy do have some clear goals for it. “We want the policy to have harm reduction framework. So, basically an aim towards minimizing risks. So, if students are going to engage in these behaviors there is a way to do it in safer ways and ways that is higher risk [sic]. So we want our policy to catch that,” McDonald said. Other goals include wanting the amnesty policy to be really clear, and something that is well utilized and understood by students.

With the changes to the policy, McDonald said, “We want basically a community of care and responsibility. Where people look out for one and another. Where help seeking is encouraged and students feel comfortable doing that.”

“We are a little limited [in what we can do] because we are a part of the United States, so we have to function under state and federal laws, but there is ways that we can do that [sic] and still make [the policy] feel fair and reasonable, and harm reduction based,” said McDonald.

In an interview, McDonald also talked about how they are hoping to put something together that feels fair to students. In hopes of doing this, McDonald really wants students to know that “we are taking everything under consideration. We really want to know what students are thinking.”

All things considered McDonald stated that, “I just want it to be a safe community for students. I am hoping the policy can help us to get there.”

Tang Museum Receives 1 Million Dollar Grant

By Noa Maltzman ’18, News Editor

Last Thursday Feb. 12 it was announced that the Skidmore College Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery received a one million dollar grant from the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund. This grant will support the expansion of the museum’s programing and will help to build the Tang’s endowment.

Considered a “challenge” grant, it’s “a challenge to other donors to match the grant and create a two million dollar endowment,” said Ian Berry, Dayton Director at the Tang museum.

“The Tang’s interdisciplinary approach, which has become a model for university art museums across the nation, will be strengthened by the Tisch Illumination Fund grant,” said a press release for the grant that can be found here. “We are grateful to the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund for their continued support and for their recognition of our work, fostering meaningful exchange and dialogue in our community, and new ways of learning for our audiences here in Saratoga and beyond,” Berry says in the press release.

This is not the first time that The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund has given money to the Tang. In 2008, they also gave a 1.2 million dollar challenge grant. Money, such like these grants from the Laurie M. Tisch Fund is critical to the Tang as it helps to grow the museum’s endowment. “Our endowment is the solid base of support for the museum. It is the money we use each year to do everything we do at the Tang,” said Berry.

Laurie M. Tisch, President of the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, says in the press release: “We are proud to expand our support of the Tang Teaching Museum.”

Skidaiko in Debt

 

By Bryn Hsu '16

Running a club is an admirable task as it takes time, effort, and dedication. For the current Skidaiko club leaders however, it will take even more than that, as they have to overcome debt issues they inherited.

Last year, Skidmore hosted The East Coast Taiko Conference, the gathering of taiko teams from universities across the region. However, it was badly planned and led to overspending of the club’s budget. At the time, the club was led by a senior who has since graduated. The conference caused Skidaiko’s finances to begin going downhill. Currently, Skidaiko has a deficit of $4,066.66.

Funding for clubs comes from the Student Government Association (SGA) budget. The SGA is responsible for deciding how much money is given to each club and the Skidmore SGA Financial Guidelines states that the SGA “serves only to subsidize the costs of clubs/committees,” but “not to cover all expenses.” This is to discourage “excessive spending for personal benefit.” However, there appeared to have been a loophole, which allowed the Skidakio club leader at the time of the conference to maneuver around these guidelines. The leader of the club was also a member of the SGA executive board, and this led to a conflict of interest.

To solve the problem, Sam Harris ‘15, SGA Vice President for Financial Affiars, proposed installing a new policy stating that the Vice President of Financial Affairs and the Vice President of Club Affairs could no longer hold an officer position on a club e-board. A special election was held in November of this year allowing students to vote on the policy, which was approved.

Harris, along with the Budget and Finance Committee is also working with Skidaiko’s new leaders to figure out an amiable solution to the deficit, so that Skidaiko can remain a strong and successful performance group.

“It's just a bad situation for everyone involved, and they're good people trying to fix the problem,” said Harris.

Members of Skidaiko declined request for comment on this issue.

Campus Safety Reports Feb.6-Feb. 12

Friday Feb. 6

Fire Alarm at Sussman Apartments 8:46 AM: Fire alarm activation received, units dispatched. Source of alarm due to cooking.

College Violation at Willmarth Hall 2:34 PM: RP reports noise complaint after numerous requests to lower music. Unit dispatched, resident complied.

Suspicious Odor at Dana 3:35 PM: RP reports sulfur odor. Units dispatched, source could not be located.

Suspicious Odor at Jonsson Tower 5:25 PM: RP reports suspicious odor. Officer dispatched, report generated.

Fire Alarm at Penfield Hall 8:30 PM: Fire alarm activation received. Units dispatched, unknown reason for activation.

College Violation Wait Hall 9:15 PM: RP reports college violation. Unit dispatched, report generated.

Saturday Feb. 7

College Violation Wait Hall 1:28 AM: RP requests assistance with noisy group who failed to comply with request. Units dispatched, group gone on arrival.

Criminal Mischief Wiecking Hall 1:57 AM: RP requests response for discharged fire extinguisher. Units dispatched, report generated.

College Violation Wiecking Hall 2:01AM: RP requests assistance with alcohol violation found in dorm. Unit dispatched, report generated. Alcohol violation referral.

Fire Alarm Sussman Apartments 3:11PM: Fire alarm activation received, units dispatched. Due to cooking. Report generated.

Fire Alarm Whitman Way 10:04 PM: Fire alarm activation received. Units dispatched, due to slight smoke condition from ironing. Report generated.

Suspicious Odor Jonsson Tower 10:39 PM: RP reports suspicious odor. Officer dispatched, violation not found.

College Violation Whitman Way 11:35PM: Noise complaint received. Units dispatched, residents complied.

Sunday Feb. 8

Suspicious Odor Jonsson Tower 12:01AM: RP reports a strong odor. Officer dispatched, reports unfounded.

Alarm Dinning Hall 8:56 AM: Fire alarm activation received. Units dispatched, due to flooding. Report generated.

Towing Moore Way 8:00 AM: Vehicle parked in fire lane. Attempt to contact numerous times, no response. Matts towing notified, student moved vehicle prior to tow.

Fire Alarm Cane Crossing 2:42PM: Fire alarm activation received. Units dispatched, due to marijuana. Report generated.

Suspicious Odor Jonsson Tower 8:15 PM: RP reports a suspicious odor. Officers dispatched. Numerous violations noted, report generated.

Sex Offense On Campus 9:41PM: Assistance requested for a possible sexual and gender based misconduct incident.

College Violation Whitman Way 10:36 PM: RP reports excessive noise, officer dispatched. Residents complied with request to quiet down.

Fire Alarm Sussman Apartments 11:16PM: Fire alarm activation received. Units dispatched, due to burning incense. Report generated.

Monday Feb. 9

Emergency Phone Sussman Apartments 7:21AM: Emergency phone activation for apartments with no response. Units dispatched, no one in the area.

Campus Safety Assist Off Campus 10:15 AM: Law enforcement requests information regarding a suspicious package. Report generated.

Fire Alarm Whitman Way 7:24PM: Fire alarm activation received. Units dispatched, due to marijuana. Report generated.

Tuesday Feb. 10

Suspicious Activity Whitman Way 3:55AM: RP reports a suspicious noise in her apartment. Dispatched officer. Unfounded.

Welfare Check Rounds Hall 2:26PM: RP requested a welfare check of student. Unit dispatched, student found okay and advised to follow up with RP. Report generated.

Fire Alarm Sussman Apartments 6:13 PM: Fire alarm activation received. Units dispatched, due to cooking. Report generated.

Suspicious Activity Jonsson Tower 9:01 PM: RP reports subjects smoking marijuana at the back door of the building. Units dispatched, subjects gone on arrival.

Suspicious Odor McClellan Hall 11:00PM: RP reports a suspicious odor. Odor was detected but no one was in area. Unable to locate.

Wednesday Feb. 11

Campus Safety Report Cane Crossing 12:00 AM: RP reports a suspicious female wearing a green coat in the area. Dispatched Officer. Officer reports no one in area.

College Violation Wiecking Hall 11:42 PM: RP reports loud music from dorm room. Officer spoke with occupants who will comply with quiet hours.

Thursday Feb. 12

College Violation Moore Way 12:06 AM: RP reports loud music from apartment. Units dispatched, resident complied with request to lower music.

Towing Jonsson Tower Lot 10:02 AM: Officer request a tow truck to tow a vehicle found in violation. Report generated.

Suspicious Odor Jonsson Tower 4:26 PM: RP reports a suspicious odor. Units dispatched, source could not be located.

Welfare Check Cane Crossing 9:10 PM: RP requests welfare check of student. Unit dispatched, RP cancelled prior to check. Student called RP.

Welfare Check Moore Way 10:59PM: RP requests check on student. Units dispatched, student found well. Report generated.

Snow Days & Delays: When Skidmore Cancels

By Madeleine Freundlich '17

Last Monday, Feb. 2, students and faculty received emails and text messages around 5:50 in the morning announcing that all classes and activities would be suspended for the day. This snow day was the first full-day cancellation due to snow in four years, and students were incredibly excited to catch up on work, sleep, and spend time outside in the snow. Since last Monday, many have been wishing for another snow day, watching the weather reports and wondering what factors will encourage the administration to suspend activities once again.

So how does our administration decide if classes will be cancelled? A small group of faculty including President Glotzbach get on a conference call at 5:00 am and discuss the conditions, “Including but not limited to: weather forecasts—duration and rate of the storm, type of storm (heavy or light snow, winds, ice), safety for students, faculty and staff, if there are National Weather Service Advisories, law enforcement bulletins,” said Barbara Beck, Associate Vice President for Finance & Administration. The committee also takes a look at class schedules for the day and checks if there are any special events on campus. Usually, the committee decides that the day will unfold as usual, and facilities gets to work making sure our campus is as accessible as possible. Sometimes class openings will be delayed, but typically the college works to stay open.

Beck said that the storm that Monday “was going to hamper faculty and staff and commuting students in both their drive in and home from campus, so safety was a concern and town and city plows were not going to be keeping up with clearing.” It’s not unusual that Saratoga has to deal with a lot of snow, but it’s vital that professors and staff can safely get to and from Skidmore. With a true blizzard, that may prove impossible and lead to a snow day.

For those curious, the college’s official inclement weather policy can be found online at http://www.skidmore.edu/hr/documents/InclementWeatherPolicy.pdf.

Polo Club and SGA Meet to Discuss Polo's Standing with SGA

 

By Noa Maltzman ’18, News Editor

On Saturday February 7, members of both the Polo Club executive board (and two members of their Alumni Advisory board Will Orthwein ’92 and Tab Orthwein ‘91) and members of the Student Government Association (SGA) joined together to discuss many issues related to the Polo club and their current standing with SGA.

The Polo Club has been under SGA review since October (as discussed in a previous Skidmore News article, Skidmore Polo Club Under SGA Review, that was published in December 2014). “It got to the point where we needed to consider if this is something SGA can continue to support,” said SGA President, Addison Bennett ’16. SGA as a whole only has a limited number of funds, as they get $319 per student per year, and currently one of the clubs they give much of that funding to is the Polo Club.

When the club first went under review at the end of October, a memo was sent to the Polo Club from SGA that discussed their concerns with the club. The memo had seven items of concern. Three of those items were horse care, financial involvement and administrative involvement. Horse care is no longer an issue SGA has with the club, as the club has proven that the horses are well taken care of. “You [Polo Club] know horses better then we do. We are not going to pretend we know your horses better,” said Bennett.

Members of the SGA have been investigating and looking into the current Polo Club and past information about the club as part of their review. They have gotten in touch with people in almost every department and area of the school. They also reached out to David Porter who was the president of Skidmore College at the time Polo was stripped of their varsity status because of similar issues they are facing now—issues that had to do mainly with finances, and the financial burden the club brings. When Polo was stripped of their varsity status, SGA volunteered to pick them up and support them as they had the funds at the time to do this.

“We do not want to be the people to take something away,” said Bennett, and this was something that was clearly stressed at their joint meeting on February 7. Other members of the SGA executive committee echoed this statement of Bennett. Soraya Attia '15, Senior Class President, spoke up at the meeting and said, “I don’t want to see the polo team go,” also stating: “I just want to see something sustainable.”

At the meeting, the conversation kept going back and forth from members of the Polo club executive board and members of SGA. The Polo Club was trying to convince SGA to make a compromise. The president of Polo Club, Bill Miller ’15, said at the meeting, “it would be one thing if we just shut our doors and weren’t willing to compromise.”

A few days prior to this meeting the Polo Club had sent a proposed budget to SGA that reduced their budget by almost 40 percent. “We are trying to meet you half way,” said Miller. Treasure of the Polo club Meggie Danielson ’17 echoed this statement by saying “we are willing to meet you halfway.”

Currently the Polo club owns ten horses and leases four horses. The horses they lease do not cost the club any money except for what it takes to care for them. The club leases the horses for the school year, and then at the end of the year they give the horses back to their owners. In the budget proposal that they wrote up, they would only lease horses for the fall semester opposed to the whole school year. Then in the spring semester they would only keep the horses that they owned, as the leased horses would be returned to their owners. With fewer horses in the spring, the team would still be able to ride and practice, but would have to travel for all their games, as they wouldn’t have enough horses to host.

“You guys [Polo Club] do something that distinguishes Skidmore from other colleges,” Bennett said. With this in mind, though, there has been this ongoing debate over the years that Polo is cool and students like to do it but it takes a lot of work. Hopefully this issue will come to an end, and a decision will be made prior to spring break. Bennett said SGA has a “flexible deadline” of before spring break in regards to when they want to have a final decision on if the Polo Club will lose its funding or not.

Campus Safety Reports Jan.30-Feb. 5

Friday Jan. 30

College Violation at Howe Hall 12:3 AM: RP reports a noise complaint.

College Violation at Dayton Drive 1:40 AM: RP reports loud noise. Dispatched Officer advised unfounded/no noise upon his arrival.

Suspicious Activity at Sussman Apartments 9:21 AM: RP called stating there is a suspicious male near apartment. Dispatched Officers report it was a vendor repairing a window. RP advised.

Suspicious Activity at Jonsson Tower 10:38 PM: Officer secured a backpack containing alcohol from a male in the south stairwell of Jonsson Tower.

Saturday Jan. 31

Moving Violations at Northwoods Apartments Grounds 12:22 AM: Sergeant reports vehicle driving the wrong way on a one way designated roadway. Ticket issued.

College Violation at Kimball Hall 1:06 AM: RP called to report that it's loud on the 2nd floor. Disp. Officer reports all quiet upon arrival.

Suspicious Odor at Wiecking Hall 2:04 AM: RP reports a suspicious odor on the 2nd floor. Disp. Officer who reports no odor present/call unfounded.

Sunday Feb. 1

Fire Alarm at Sussman Apartments 7:16 AM: Fire alarm activation due to cooking fumes. Advised Officers, Maintenance and SSFD.

Monday Feb. 2

Criminal Mischief at McClellan Hall 1:12 PM: RP notified stop sign found in center stairwell. Disp. Officer. Report taken.

Trespass Off Campus 3:25 PM: Railroad Police Office reported that students were allegedly almost hit by train while snowshoeing on railroad tracks. No evidence found by either municipality to support allegation that persons were students. Call unfounded.

Suspicious Odor at Jonsson Tower 9:37 PM: RP reports suspicious odor on the 3rd floor. Disp. Officer who reports that there is a faint odor but is unable to locate source of odor.

Suspicious Odor at Wait Hall 9:21 PM: RP reports a couple of subjects near bike shed smoking marijuana. Disp. Officer who reports subjects fled upon his arrival.

Fire Alarm at Penfield Hall 10:14 PM: Fire alarm received. Disp. Officers, Maintenance and advised SSFD. Problem with heating equipment.

College Violation at Sussman Apartments 11:01 PM: RP called to report a noise complaint. Disp. who spoke with residents and advised them to turn down the music; they complied.

Tuesday Feb. 3

Criminal Mischief at Sussman Apartments unknown time: RP requests an officer regarding damage to a window. Disp. Officer who took a report.

Accident at Perimeter Road 1:20 PM: RP requests an officer regarding damage to a window. Disp. Officer who took a report.

Suspicious Odor at Wait Hall 10:12 PM: RP reports an odor of incense in this area. Disp. officer who reports the source was located and individual spoken with. Report made.

Wednesday Feb. 4

Dating Violence at Unknown Residence Hall 10:58 AM: RP advised receiving a report of dating violence that occurred starting in 2012 and ending in 2013.

Accident at Palamountain Lot 11:30 AM: RP reports that her vehicle was struck while parked. Requests Saratoga PD for accident report.

Thursday Feb 5.

Suspicious Odor at Wait Hall 5:32 PM: RP reports suspicious odor at main entrance. Two subjects observed. Disp. Officer who reports subjects GOA upon arrival

Suspicious Odor at Jonsson Tower 9:15 PM: RP in office to report a suspicious odor on the 3rd floor. Disp. officer.

Suspicious Odor at Jonsson Tower 9:15 PM: RP in office to report a suspicious odor on the 8th floor. Disp. officer.

Suspicious Odor at Wait Hall 9:09 PM: RP reports a suspicious odor on the 2nd floor. Disp. Officers.

Suspicious Odor at Jonsson Tower 10:41 PM: RP called to report a suspicious odor. Disp. officers.

Criminal Mischief at Wiecking Hall 11:42 PM: RP called to report that the entire peephole assembly is missing from his door. Disp. officers.

College Violation at Wait Hall 11:48 PM: RP called in a noise complaint. Dispatched Officer who reports loud talking. All quieted down.

Chamber event links international students and the community

A group of Skidmore’s international students got the inside scoop on their adopted hometown of Saratoga Springs and the area’s career opportunities, thanks to a recent gathering hosted by the Saratoga County Camber of Commerce. The event, held at the chamber offices, brought together some 15 Skidmore students with area professionals to swap ideas and learn from one another.

The annual mixer, launched last year, was the idea of Darren Drabek, academic counselor and coordinator of international student services at Skidmore, who was looking for ways to connect his students to the community and increase their awareness of the local business and service economy. Skidmore’s Office of Community Relations proposed the idea to the chamber of commerce, and the staff there took off with the idea, rounding up local professionals willing to share their expertise.

Said Drabek, “Student exposure to local businesses is often limited to the bare necessities or to entertainment. We created this event to encourage a deeper understanding of other facets of the Saratoga Springs professional community. Our office seeks opportunities for visiting students to learn what their American counterparts have observed for years in the working culture.”

Participants filed into the chamber’s conference room and were immediately greeted by the warm smiles of chamber representatives, Skidmore faculty and staff, and business leaders. Pizza and refreshments were served as the community members settled around a large oval table.

Skidmore students from China, the Bahamas, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Haiti, Kenya, Libya, Lithuania, Madagascar, Nigeria, South Africa, and Swaziland shared their passions and how they each wanted to become involved in the community. These aspiring engineers, computer scientists, business professionals, doctors, and humanitarians all had something they sought to learn from industries in the U.S.

Representatives from a variety of sectors—healthcare, nonprofit, marketing, technology, and law—introduced themselves and spoke about the specific qualities they look for when hiring. Dave Shacket, president of the web development company WebInstincts, values flexibility and a good attitude when working collaboratively to solve problems. Matt Jones, principal of the Jones Firm, seeks good writers and self-starters. Sue Malinowski, executive director of CAPTAIN Youth and Family Services, looks for passion, commitment, and a willingness to work around the clock for a cause. Mad Glory, Allegory Studios, Saratoga Bridges, Fingerpaint Marketing, and Saratoga Hospital were some of the other businesses in attendance.

Later in the program, students and business representatives mingled and swapped ideas, advice, and experiences. Stella Langat ’16 recommended the creation of an app that would list Saratoga businesses and their available internships and other career opportunities. Hailing from Kenya, Langat is an economics major and environmental science minor who wants to acquire the skills to one day manage her own company. Right now, she is focusing on the marketing side of things.

Said Langat, “I believe in my confidence, personality, and my ability to network, and I know those are very important when launching a new brand, or marketing a startup. I want to be able to market a small business to become big.”

Themba Shongwe ’18, a prospective business and economics major, is interested in one day registering his own non-government organization in his native country of Swaziland. In addition to the business classes he is taking at Skidmore, networking events such as this add to his reservoir of administrative wisdom.

Said Shongwe, “It’s about learning organizational structure and the financial side. I believe functional NGOs have the potential to have an impact in my country. With impact comes influence, and I would like to positively influence the direction that education is going. That’s my goal. That is the highest point of my dreams. And it all starts with learning the skills I need to run an organization.”

A New Student Constitution

By Noa Maltzman ’18, News Editor

On Friday, Jan. 30, all Skidmore students received an email from Student Government Association (SGA) President Addison Bennett ’16, that announced the new student constitution. “After more than a year of work with students, President Glotzbach and his Cabinet, and the entire College, the SGA Senate has unanimously approved a new Constitution for the Student Body,” Bennett wrote in his email.

The work on forming this new constitution began over a year ago during Fall 2013, as a project that SGA Vice President for Financial Affairs, Sam Harris ’15 and Bennett took on. Together they worked to identify what they felt to be the most important values and the biggest flaws. Then they worked to establish a document and structure that would reflect the need to adapt.

Harris and Bennett also sought advice from students through SGA Town Hall meetings, SGA committees, discussions in the SGA Senate and a special SGA group that worked on the Constitution. Other faculty members and staff including President Glotzbach were also consulted, definitely making this a group effort.

“This document is written for one purpose: to establish a new structure of student representation that allows student representatives to be more accessible and responsive to what you need from your College,” Bennett wrote. “It will allow us to more effectively do our job of creating programs and supporting the policies that build our vibrant campus life.”

“As members of the SGA Executive Committee for a combined five years, Sam Harris and I ran into a lot of obstacles and problems related to our current constitution,” said Bennett. Which is part of the reason that led to the formulation of a new constitution. “Its most important flaw is in its construction: the document is 17 pages worth of operating codes, membership requirements, and generally unclear and uninspiring lists,” Bennett said. According to Bennett, this is a problem because he feels this is “why students often find it difficult to engage with [SGA], and we want to do something about it.”

The new constitution is much shorter at only eight pages long, and according to Bennett it will help SGA adapt to the changing times.

Making the constitution shorter is only a fraction of what was changed. Exact sections, wordings, roles and aspects were also altered. One of the other changes was the addition of a new position on the SGA executive committee. This position is the Executive Vice President, and fundamentally they will be the SGA “number two person.” “The Executive VP's job will mostly be helping represent SGA to the administration, filling in for the President when necessary, coordinating strategic initiatives, and ensuring sustainability across all initiatives,” said Bennett.

The number and position of senators that are a part of the SGA senate were also changed in the new constitution. Currently the majority of the senators that are a part of the SGA Senate are known as general senators at large. This will not be the case next year. Instead there will be four class senators per grade; one senator from each residential life area, and the class president for each class will also serve as a senator. The class-based senators were added because “currently, the first year class has three senators, and we decided we really liked the class-based constituency idea,” Bennett said. They were also added because currently the senators at large represent the whole student body and according to Bennett this makes it hard to represent and hard for outreach efforts. The residential life senators are a new position that were added because they “will be able to represent people who they actually know, and they'll have the ability to advocate for specific interests of their residents,” Bennett said. “I believe that we can use these new positions to help foster a new residential, community-based student life at Skidmore in a way that I feel we're currently lacking,” Bennett also said.

Details on aspects such as the SGA committees were removed from the new constitution and will be included in a separate but accompanying set of bylaws. According to Bennett this was done because “we don't want to run a special election to amend the constitution every time we want to mess with the membership of a single committee.”

Though hard work and countless hours may have been put into creating the new constitution nothing is official yet. In early March before spring break, all students will get the chance to vote in a special election, with one question on the ballet. The question will ask “do you support the new Constitution for the Student Body?” Whether you think these changes are great or not get ready to have your opinion heard. If the new constitution is approved it will go into effect immediately following this years commencement.

Until this election, students can keep their eyes out for a special outreach and education campaign called, "Get out the vote" that will soon be announced. This will help educate students on this issue before they vote. “We don’t want anyone to be surprised on election day,” Bennett said.

Overall Bennett feels that “the most important thing is we want to create a constitution that allows students to act within Skidmore and make change.”

Skidmore's New Science Building: The Center for Integrated Science

By Noa Maltzman ’18, News Editor

Every student who plans to graduate from Skidmore College will be subject to taking a natural lab science class, even if they are not of that major. However this does not necessarily mean that students will be taking these classes in state-of-the-art buildings built in the last decade, such like students at many of the other Northeast Liberal Arts Colleges. Instead, many students have been going to lab science classes in the same buildings and spaces that were created and have been used since the 1960s.

In as soon as the next five and a half years all of this will change. Skidmore is currently in the process of working to create a new science building that will replace the existing Dana Science Center, and it will be known as the Center for Integrated Science (CIS).

The CIS has a project cost of over $100 million, but it will bring together all nine physical and life science departments and programs under one roof. Currently, these vast classes are spread out from the Williamson Sports Center, to Tisch Learning Center to Dana Science Center. “By bringing together all nine physical and life science departments we are going to be able to show students how all of those disciplines integrate together. Plus we will be able to establish new synergies that are not possible when everyone is spread across multiple buildings,” said Kimberley Frederick, Chair and Professor of Chemistry. “I think it will really improve the educational experience for students. All students not just science students,” Frederick said.

This construction project “will be one of the largest projects in recent college history, with the initial campus construction in the 1960s aside,” said Paul Lundberg, Assistant Director Construction Services.

The project involves completely gutting the inside of Dana and adding an additional 115,000 square feet. The new building will include 46 research labs, 16 classrooms and meeting rooms, 22 teaching labs, an open atrium, many study and hangout locations, computer labs and an ideal lab. “The ideal lab is basically a place where students can go to actualize their ideas,” said Frederick. The ideal lab will include everything from 3D printers to sewing machines. “It is a place where you can physically create ideas that you have in your head. Whether that be for entrepreneurship, for just some kind of creative expression, or a class project,” Frederick said.

All of this construction is expected to take about four and a half to five years, but that does not mean the project is going to be done in as short as four and a half years. Before construction can even begin there is a long list of tasks that must be completed. The very first thing on the list is finishing the fundraising for the building. So far, fundraising for the building has been going on for 18 months and $32 million has been raised. Ideally Skidmore is hoping to raise $80-100 million. If they can’t raise that much then they are hoping to raise at least $60-80 million.

Originally, “we hoped to be done [with the fundraising] this year, but you never know how fundraising projects like this will progress until you start. We will keep at it until we get there,” said Kimberly Verstandi, Associate Vice President for Advancement and Campaign Director. With this in mind it is unknown how much longer it will take to raise the rest of the money. “We are hoping to get the bulk of [the money] through donations,” but “we may end up borrowing some too depending how it all flushes out,” Karen Kellogg, Associate Dean of the Faculty for Infrastructure, Sustainability, and Civic Engagement said. “The CIS continues to be our top fundraising priority,” Verstandi said.

Once the fundraising for the project is complete, it is then time to start working on permitting for the building and construction documents. These two things alone will take about a year and once they are complete it is time to start taking bids and searching for a builder.

The construction is going to be done in multiple stages with the new added spaces being built first. This will take about two years. Once this is done, the construction team will work on the gutting and construction of the inside of Dana. This way when Dana is being worked on, those offices, research labs and classrooms that were once inside will be able to move to the new space that was built first. Kellogg said that, “there are certainly going to be some inconveniences,” with all the construction, “but the commitment is that there is no disruption [to] teaching or research.”

The final CIS building might be very far from being done, and no current Skidmore students might be here when it is finally opened, but once it is finished it will be a place for all students, those studying the sciences and those not. “This building is really targeted to be a building for every student on campus. Not just for the students taking their lab science and their quantitative reasoning requirements,” Fredrick said. “We wanted to make sure to bring in spaces that the whole campus needs. So we have four general purpose classrooms, four computer classrooms, [and] a larger atrium space for larger community gatherings,” said Kellogg.

Skidmore Increases Student Minimum Wage

By Noa Maltzman '18, News Editor

On December 19, the Skidmore Institutional Policy and Planning Committee (IPPC) voted unanimously to increase the minimum wage for on campus student employees. The minimum wage on campus was increased to $8.75 an hour so that it would be inline with the current New York State minimum wage. This change went into effect on Jan. 1, 2015 as previously Skidmore had been following the Federal Minimum Wage of $7.25 an hour.

Skidmore College was not legally required to increase the student minimum wage even though the state increased it. Originally Skidmore had made the decision to not raise the student minimum wage. When it became clear that wages were not going to rise for students, “members of SGA, the students as a whole, and the administration began working together on how we could address the issue,” said Student Government Associate President Addison Bennett ’16.

The issue of raising student wages ultimately came down to two main factors. The first was that when the IPPC reviewed Skidmore’s peer colleges and how they were addressing this issue they realized that most were planning on raising their student minimum wage and “Skidmore need[ed] to adapt to remain competitive among College students state-wide,” said Bennett. The second factor had to do with fairness. This was an issue that the two student members of the IPPC Bennett and Student Government Association VP for Financial Affairs Sam Harris ’15 “were careful to emphasize with the support of the administration,” said Bennett.

“Skidmore College has strived to pay students competitive wages. So, with this additional information…the College increased the wages on Jan. 1 to the higher rates,” said past vice-chair (and vice-chair at the time of this decision) of the IPPC and Professor of Government Natalie Taylor.

President Phillip A. Glotzbach said in a statement that was emailed to Skidmore students on Dec. 19 that the change was made “with respect to student workers.” Bennett ‘16 said in an email to Skidmore students also on Dec. 19 that “this change… has come about as a result of student activism, action taken by the SGA Senate, and the community’s attention to this issue.”

The overall response from students is that they are very pleased with the increase. “It is nice to know that the school values us as student employees and pays us the state minimum wage,” said Rachael Thomeer ’18, a student work in the dining hall.

When Celia Marhefka ’18 a student worker at both the dining hall and Spa was asked how she felt about the increase she said, “I am happy I am getting paid more.” For students like Marhefka and Thomeer who work in Skidmore’s dining services, their pay has been increased this semester from eight dollars an hour to $8.75 an hour.

With a pay increase like this, school budgetary concerns are obviously an issue because the money has to come from some part of Skidmore’s budget. Currently “for the fiscal year ending May 31, the College only needed to fund a portion of the annual cost, which has been funded for these purposes from the College Operating Budget Contingency Fund,” said Taylor when asked how they were funding this increase.

The change of student minimum wage will not end here, as it will once again increase next year. Bennett said that the “IPPC was willing to make the long-term commitment within the College's annual budget to student wages being at or above the state minimum. That means that when the wage raises again automatically at the start of 2016, so will Skidmore's.”

General Education Requirements Under Review

Image by Ryan Davis '17, Art Director For more than a decade, Skidmore College has had the same general education requirements. The current curriculum encourages students to explore concepts in the fields of the arts, the humanities, the sciences, and the social sciences. Recently, President Glotzbach has mentioned that the faculty are reviewing these course requirements with one goal in mind: to prepare Skidmore students with a solid education. In a statement released in December 2009 entitled Skidmore College Goals for Student Learning and Development, the faculty stated, “We want our students to acquire both knowledge and capacities that enable them to initiate and embrace change and apply their learning lifelong in new contexts.” However, what constitutes a foundational and supposedly relevant education is under debate. Professors, students, administrative advisors, and members of the Committee of Educational Policy and Planning (CEPP) have been meeting regularly to design a general curriculum that accomplishes the goal of providing a simultaneously timeless and era-aware education.

When asked about the progress of these discussions, Glotzbach explained that they were still preliminary. He said, “they’re trying to take a comprehensive look at the requirements to see how they map onto what the faculty think students need to learn today. There are more conversations to come; they’re at the thoughtful investigative stage of examining possible alternatives to see what we might do.”

Professor John Brueggemann, chair of the sociology department, was a member of CEPP in the past. Brueggemann elaborated on the complexity of the decisions to be made. He stated, “The faculty are divided among the arts, the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. If you go to a lecture in Gannett, there will be some issue - it could be sustainability, it could be scientific literacy, it could be non-Western interaction, cultural interaction, global interaction, it could be diversity. People will say, “how do we get students and faculty more sensitized to this issue?” And someone will say, “we should have a requirement.” Each one of their goals is honorable, but if we add all of the proposed requirements, it would end up being too much. If all the faculty got what they wanted, the students would have no time for electives.

Full time students who attend Skidmore College for all four years have a maximum of 144 possible credits they can take during their undergraduate experience, not counting possible credit overloads. Although 144 credits may seem like a lot, the very fact that there is a limitation implies that compromises must be made.

“Professor Michael Ennis-McMillan, chair of the anthropology department, offered his insight about the delicate nature of the decisions to be made by CEPP. Ennis-McMillan replied saying, “I think it’s good to have some requirements as a guideline to say here’s what a liberally educated person should have. But if you go too far and require everything, you’re not letting exploration and creativity flourish. We’re trying to figure out a happy balance of six to eight core courses.”

Some professors have declined to speak on the issue, because nothing is set in stone yet. However, the gears of change have started to turn and updates are to come.

Residential Life Makes Changes

By Noa Maltzman '18, Staff Writer

In the past year, The Office Of Residential Life, headed by Interim Director Ann Marie Przywara , has implemented several changes. The first includes the elimination of the Head Resident position.

Last year Skidmore had what was called Head Residents. These were  undergraduate students, normally juniors or seniors, who oversaw the Residential Advisors(RA) within their dormitory and worked with the Area Coordinator to help with the running of the residence halls and Apartments.  Skidmore was “unique having student building managers and it wasn’t a uniqueness that made our colleagues at other res life institutions say wow that is a great opportunity,” Przywara said. Colleges like Skidmore that had Head Residents were trying phase them out because there were not many benefits to having them.

In previous years, the Head Residents had direct supervision of the RAs. In turn, the Area Coordinators, who are trained full time professionals, had direct supervision of the Head Residents and Unit Assistants (UA), but indirect supervision of the RAs. This year Residential Life has streamlined the hierarchy so that Area Coordinators directly supervise the RAs, too. Simplification should have perceivable benefits. “I think having direct supervision of RA’s and UA’s gives us a really good opportunity to be developmental with them and to give them some skill training with a skill set they can use even beyond Skidmore” Przywara says.

Eliminating the position of Head Resident is the first of Residential Life's two big changes.  Last year Residential Life had four main responsibilities: programming and events within the residential life, housing, student conduct and off-campus relations.  This year, though, oversight of student conduct has been given to Campus Life, directed by David Karp and  Assistant Director of Student Conduct Erin Dagle.

Residential Life still deals with first and second level AOD violations, but most violations are now managed by the Office of Campus Life. As such, they  have much more time to deal with other student issues.  For example, “last year if you were a first year student, second, third or fourth year student and had housing related concerns, was worried about a friend who was experiencing a crisis, [then] we probably wouldn’t see you in the same day. It would probably be a couple of days later because our schedule was filled with a lot of student conduct meetings,”  Przywara says. “Now if you call even at 10:30 [in the morning] we can probably see you like early afternoon because we are budgeting time and being strategic about that, to give time and space to help students as immediately as possible and get them connected to resources.”

Residential Life also has implemented smaller changes that include  requiring RAs to send in weekly reports and creating a student-staff advisory board. They are also looking at residence hall traditions because, as Przywara says, they don’t feel that students have a real sense of connection to their residence hall. Expect more changes to come.

Skidmore Seeks to Increase International Student Presence

by Noa Maltzman' 18, Staff Writer

Ten years ago, less than one percent or fewer than 20 of Skidmore’s students were international.  Today that number has significantly increased, as ten percent of the freshman class and 8.7 percent of the overall student body do not hold U.S. citizenship.

The increased interest among international applicants for a Skidmore education is also reflected in application trends.  Whereas Skidmore had 600 international applications in 2012, last year the college had 1600 applications from abroad.   Skidmore’s appeal to international students is more than just coincidence—it is the result of a deliberate strategy on the part of the admission’s office.

While Skidmore’s growth inevitably stems in part from increasing worldwide demand for a U.S. education, Skidmore’s growth is much more dramatic than what is happening at most U.S. campuses.   According to a recent report from the Institute of International Education, Skidmore’s growth far outpaces national trends.  During this ten-year period, Skidmore’s increase in international students has increased almost 1000 percent. The national population of international undergraduate students has increased approximately 66 percent.

Unlike prospective American applicants (especially those in the Northeast corridor), many international students are not able visit Skidmore before they apply, or even before they arrive for their first day.   As a result, international outreach is particularly important for institutions, such as Skidmore, that want to have a global footprint.

In addition to having to confront that many international applicants can’t visit Saratoga Springs, recruitment of international students is also challenging because of their unfamiliarity with U.S. schools.  As a result, key strategies for increasing international enrollment include educating international high school counselors about Skidmore and its offerings and meeting prospective students in their home countries.

“The biggest challenge [for international student recruitment], if you are not Harvard, Yale, Princeton, UCLA, etc., is name recognition and students being willing to go to an institution that they have not heard of before,” explains Vice President for Enrollment at Puget Sound University Jenny Rickard.

Although Skidmore admission’s officers have been traveling internationally for the past 15-20 years it wasn’t until the last eight to ten years that they have increased their global presence.

Some things that Skidmore has done to help with this issue is that  “we have traveled more consistently internationally, attended more conferences dealing with international admissions, and we have teamed up with 9 other upstate NY colleges/universities to offer a summer tour of the region for international guidance/college counselors,” said Ken Dunbar, member of the Skidmore Class of 2000 and Associate Director of Admissions and Coordinator of International Admissions.

One of the biggest pieces of advice for focusing on international student recruitment from admissions counselors around the world is the need to focus on one region instead of multiple regions. This is because admissions counselors at colleges need to build “relationships with schools, counselors and students” said Rickard.

Consistent with this, Skidmore’s admissions officers attempt to build international enrollment by focusing on key markets and building strong relationships with counselors.  “Of course we add new schools each year, but there is always the core schools in each city that we visit” Dunbar said.  Cities that Skidmore consistently visit include: Istanbul, Athens, Thessaloniki, Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Johannesburg, Amman, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Lima and Quito.

For both international and American students, the cost of higher education is an important factor in a family’s decision to send a child to a particular school. To enhance international access, Skidmore has become a member of the Davis United World College Scholars program. This is a privately funded program that helps to bring international students to American campuses and pays a portion of their tuition.   And, unlike some schools, Skidmore does provide some aid for international students.  “We have been smart with the limited financial aid we have for international students,” explains Dunbar.

While reaching out to students and counselors is important, the secret to Skidmore’s success is what people think of the campus and Skidmore.  As Dunbar explains, “being in NY helps a lot and having business and other ‘pre-professional’ programs is a nice feature of our curriculum that goes a long way internationally.”  Skidmore’s reputation for providing academic support and helping international students master English -- and even its U.S. News and World Report ranking-- makes Skidmore attractive to international students.

It were these factors that led Freshman Cen (Tammy) Liang from China to Skidmore. For Liang, she had narrowed her college process down to wanting to attend a liberal arts college in New York because “I like New York and my friend studies here [in NY].” After narrowing it down, she then did research on liberal arts colleges in NY and learned about Skidmore. She looked at both the Skidmore college website and Skidmore’s ranking on US News and to her both seemed very good.

Perhaps the most important factor in increasing Skidmore’s international enrollment is by making sure those who have come to Skidmore share their experiences with prospective students. “Hearing happiness directly from a student is better than anything admissions can do,” Dunbar exclaimed.

Looking ahead at the next ten years, Skidmore's goals include increasing the student body's international cohort by ten percentage points, up from its current 8.7 percent.  Ten percent of this year’s freshman class is international, and so Skidmore looks well on its way to achieving this goal.

Campus Safety Reports Nov.21-27

 

Friday Nov. 21

College Violation 09:29 PM: RP reports a noise complaint.  Dispatched officer reports subject lowered music at that time.

Suspicious Activity 09:31PM: RP reports while responding to a noise complaint observing four male subjects located near the bike shed outside acting suspiciously. Violation of college policy regarding drugs reported.

College Violation 11:06 PM: RP called to report a noise complaint. Dispatched officers report residents observed in violation of college policies.

College Violation 11:20PM: Officers report a noise complaint. Officers spoke with students who have complied with request to disperse or lower the volume.

College Violation 11:53PM: RP reports a noise complaint. Dispatched officers report loud music lowered. Additional violations observed involving drugs and alcohol. Report issued.

Saturday Nov. 22

College Violation at Howe Hall 12:20 AM: RP reports loud noise and suspicious odor. Dispatched Officers report call unfounded.

College Violation at Moore Way 12:55AM: RP reports a noise complaint. Dispatched Officers report loud music and loud talking lowered upon request.

Fire Alarm 03:00AM at Dayton Drive: Fire alarm activation received. Dispatched Officers and Maintenance. Fire Department notified. Officers report cause of alarm due to cooking. Report issued.

Suspicious Activity at Case Center Lot 6:30PM: RP reports a suspicious person by the dormitories. Officer dispatched reports subject identified. No further problems.

Fire Alarm at Whitman Way 08:52PM: Fire alarm activation received. Officers, Maintenance and SSFD dispatched. Activation due to aerosol can spray. Report issued.

Sunday Nov. 23

College Violation at Sussman Apartments 01:07AM: RP reports a noise complaint. Dispatched officer reports speaking to the residents who agreed to lower the volume.

College Violation at Mccellan Hall 01:31AM: RP reporting loud subjects in lobby. Officer dispatched and subjects GOA.

Criminal Mischief at Mccellan Hall 01:57AM: Officer reports a broken light cover. Damage recorded. Report issued.

College Violation at Whitman Way 02:00AM: RP reports noise complaint. Officer dispatched report call unfounded. No noise detected.

Monday Nov. 24

College Violation-Noise at Wilmarth Hall 12:48AM: RP reports loud music. Officer reports student turned music down.

Campus Safety Assist at Kimball Hall 9:19AM: RP states person(s) unknown tried to start a fire in the covered entrance. Officer dispatched to take report.

Harassment at North Hall 2:00PM: RP reports mechanical harassment to Skidmore cell phone. Report taken.

Animals at Palamountain 6:43PM: RP reports a bat flying in the hallway. Officer unable to locate bat at this time.

Tuesday Nov. 25

Suspicious Odor at Jonnson Tower 7:45PM: RP reports an odor of incense. Officer dispatched, report taken.

Wednesday Nov. 26

Liquor Law Violation at Wait Hall 10:03AM: RP requests an Officer respond to confiscate found alcohol. Report generated.

Fire Alarm-Other at Sussman Apartment A 1:26PM: Fire alarm activation received. Units dispatched, due to cooking. Report generated.

Thursday Nov. 27

Power Outage 12:30AM: Unplanned power outage campus wide. Power restored, report generated.

Power Outage 11:47AM: Experiencing a campus wide power out at this time, power restored. Report generated.