1892 store has what? A recap of the student body forum
Andrew Davidson, Staff Writer
The student council held its first student body forum of the semester Wednesday, Mar. 1, 2023, where they discussed topics such as the 1892 store, the cafeteria, communication and much more.
At the forum, the student body president presents semester updates to representatives of each department. The representatives then have an opportunity to respond with questions or problems.
It was held by Parliamentarian Chapel Anderson, Secretary Abby McGillis, and President Marcus Hermanstyne of the student council.
Some announcements from Hermanstyne involved the cafeteria, 1892 store and commuters after various meetings.
The cafeteria is currently in a 10-year contract with Aramark. They have been experiencing problems on the supply chains, which has caused the cafeteria to not get everything they ordered. According to Dr. Gene Fant, the cafeteria should be receiving more supplies from Aramark soon.
The cafeteria staff also ask that students reduce the amount of waste they have.
“I understand that if you don’t like something you don’t have to eat it, so we advise you take less of something and eat what you are going to eat. We are working to get a survey so that we know the things students don’t like, so that we could eliminate or have less of those items,” said Hermanstyne.
The cafeteria is planning on having the ice cream machine up and running again soon.
Alongside the cafeteria, the 1892 store has received ice cream, which has been a long work in progress. The staff of the store would like to hear recommendations from students as to what else they could sell.
The student council is also working on different ways they can engage and communicate with commuters.
At this point, the floor was open for the representatives to bring up any problems, questions or ideas to the student council.
Katherine Palm, education department representative, asked for better and alternative ways for the student council to communicate with the student body.
“I feel that there are different ways that you can communicate to students who don’t have social media,” said Palm.
Another problem is student-teacher rights. Many student-teachers in the education department are required to continue their teaching during spring break even though all dining options are closed on campus.
“It doesn’t make sense that we have to work for the requirements to graduate but don’t have the availability to get food on campus,” said Palm.
Next, Lydia Clipperton, business department representative, stood to the mic. She argued that the commuter lunch (11:30 am – 12:30 pm) should be extended for students who have class and sometimes cannot make it to the lunch in time.
“The hours for commuter lunch are still pretty limited. I know that there is a lot of food waste from that as well, so extending it could help with that as well,” said Clipperton.
One resolution that was suggested was to-go lunches for students who have class at 12:30.
The second issue Clipperton brought up was with the college of business and entrepreneurship. She said that the department is trying to make their degree more competitive, but the “quality of professors are gauged incorrectly.”
The final representative was Keely Lyons of the communication and fine arts department. Lyons presented three issues: more necessary items to singers in the theater building vending machine, improving the theater building parking lot and adding more gluten free options in the 1892 store.
All of these issues have been noted by the secretary and will be discussed in coming student council meetings. Progress and outcomes will be presented at the next student body forum.
