Author Archives: Saul

Election Day Registration Vote Soon – Call CT Legislators!

Within the next few days, the Connecticut General Assembly will be considering legislation that will allow Election Day Voter Registration in the state. People of lower socioeconomic status, people who move frequently, and perhaps most importantly, students, are systematically disenfranchised by confusing deadlines, cumbersome paperwork, and all around bureaucratic drudgery. This bill will cut through the mess and allow any eligible voter to register and vote on Election Day.

There are a few key Senators and Reps who are on the fence. Phone calls from concerned students can quite possibly push them over the edge and get this bill passed. YOU can make a difference here.

All it takes is 10 minutes, and you don’t even need to be on campus to participate. Email me (scarlin@wes) with your cell phone number by noon tomorrow if you can help at any point tomorrow afternoon. We’re counting on you.

Links:

End of classes: Know your academic rights

Bill of RightsOver at the WSA Blog, incoming Academic Affairs Committee Chair Jeff Stein ’10 (see the newly elected Executive Committee) has posted a great summary of students’ academics rights pertaining to Reading Week and final exams.

There’s a lot you might not have known, particularly with regards to the timing of finals and other significant final projects that professors might assign in lieu of final exams. Be informed: check it out.

Stay out of trouble when the weather’s nice

spring_fling

Becky Weiss ’10, chair of the WSA’s Student Affairs Committee and incoming Vice-President for 2009-2010, writes:

WSA members have worked closely with P-Safe, the Dean of Students office, and ResLife, to develop a document that details everything you should know in order to protect your rights and prevent from getting into trouble with P-Safe or MPD.  It covers student rights and responsibilities in relation to the Code of Non-Academic Conduct and also contains some important tips on what to do when interacting with officers and reasons why MPD might come to campus.

Check out the latest post on the WSA blog, where you will find the short, easily digestable document.

[Photo: Justin LaSelva ’09.]

WSA Election Results

Mike Pernick '10 and Becky Weiss '10

Polls closed just an hour ago in the elections for the 2009-2010 WSA President and Vice-President.

The official announcement of results that came over the WSA’s twitter feed, @tinywsa, reads as follows: “ELECTION RESULTS – For WSA President: Mike Pernick, for WSA Vice-President: Becky Weiss. Congratulations!”

Final tallies are available on the WSA elections page.

Congratulations to all candidates, and good luck to all running for Class Rep and Senior Class Officer in next week’s elections.

WSA Prez+VP: Last Chance to Vote!

Polls close at midnight tonight for the elections of next year’s President and Vice-President of the WSA.

If you haven’t voted yet, you can do that at the WSA voting page.

Next week, the WSA will be holding elections for Senior Class Officers and Class Reps for the incoming sophomore, junior, and senior classes.

Even though petitions for those elections are due at 4:25 today (3 hours from now), it is not too late to run! Go to the elections page to print out petitions – you can get the 25 signatures very quickly.

Wesleyan’s Mission Statement

missionstatement
What do you think Wesleyan’s “mission” is? What is this institution all about? What positively sets us apart from our peers?

A University committee headed up by Dr. Charles Salas, Director of Strategic Initiatives, is currently working on language for an official mission statement for Wesleyan. According to Dr. Salas, Wesleyan has never actually had a mission statement, but we are being required to come up with one by our regional accrediting agency.

Dr. Salas is looking for student input on the mission statement, and began last night by introducing the committee’s current draft to the WSA. We’ve posted the draft on our blog, and we’re inviting you to head over there and leave us your comments. You will be asked for a username and password – just use your Wes login and you’ll be taken right to the comments page.

-Saul Carlin ’09, WSA Vice-President

Polls Open for WSA Prez and VP

Vote

As of midnight last night, polls are open in the elections for next year’s WSA President and Vice-President. Voting will be held on the WSA voting website until 11:59pm on Friday the 24th.

Fortunately, you haven’t missed your chance to run for the WSA! Class rep elections will take place next week, with petitions to get on the ballot due this Friday. In addition to Senior Class Officer elections, the classes of 2009, 2010, and 2011 will each elect 5 representatives to the General Assembly. Please visit the WSA website for details.

Lobby in Hartford for Financial Aid

Via all-campus email and the WSA blog:

Are you on financial aid, know someone on financial aid, or just benefit from the kind of community created by students of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds? Want to fight to keep financial aid for college students in Connecticut? Come to the Connecticut Conference of Independent Colleges’ (CCIC) student lobby day.

The event, held on Wednesday, April 15, 2009 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the State Capitol in Hartford, will allow students from all over Connecticut to reiterate to the state legislators the importance of maintaining financial assistance for Connecticut students going to private colleges in the State.

What: Student Lobby Day on Financial Aid
Where: The State Capitol in Hartford
When: Wednesday, April 15, 11am – 1pm

If interested, please contact Frank Kuan (fkuan@wesleyan.edu) or Sylvie Stein ’12 (sstein01@wesleyan.edu) by Monday, April 13, 2009.

Online activism, retro

Karl Grindal ’09 recently uncovered WESUNITY, one of many gems hidden away on Wesleyan’s servers. In a WSA blog post entitled WesUnity: Online Activism circa 1999, Karl outlines some of the cool features that WESUNITY had to offer:

(…continued on the WSA blog)

Even more exciting, Karl writes that the WSA and SALD are getting together to bring WESUNITY up-to-date so it can continue to serve as a resource to student activists. Even if you don’t consider yourself a student activist, you should check out WESUNITY for an entertaining blast from the past. My favorite part: “This Site Currently Under Deconstruction“.