Wish list

As you know, it’s getting to be that season and, not to be too demanding, we came up with a Holiday Wish List:

-A WSA Campus Tour. The inclusion of a survey (a very long survey) on the WSA website on a variety of campus concerns is a step in the right direction. Elections are not precise enough a gauge of student opinion. Taking our cue from Bennet, we think the WSA should seize this opportunity to hold open forums next semester to get real dialogue started. While WSA meetings are open to any student, past attendance has indicated that most students aren’t willing to go to the WSA. Maybe the WSA should consider going to students.

-An open and thorough evaluation of food service providers. Given that this decision is likely to be made while students are away this break, it is essential that we are kept in the know. After all, we’ll be tasting the results of this decision for years.

-More opportunities for trustees to listen to student concerns. When the trustees came to Zelnick Pavilion for a student mixer, it must have seemed to many students as if they had descended from Mount Olympus. Student turnout was low. The last thing that we, as a campus, should communicate to trustees is that we are apathetic about the issues that are of true concern to us.

-Appropriate compensation for faculty members. The purpose of Wesleyan is to educate—so if hundreds of the educators are actively upset about their pay, we should listen to them. We hope the trustees can give fair consideration to their grievances and reach a mutually acceptable compromise.

-An effort to tackle acts of intolerance and student of color issues in a visible and satisfactory manner. We hope the Campus Climate Log will help to keep students informed and aware, although we remain skeptical of its mission.

-An efficient and thoughtful ResLife. We appreciate ResLife’s recent willingness to reexamine policies that this page, and the student body, has been complaining about for years. The office can, and should, do a better job of avoiding shortsighted planning, such as the requirement that nearly all students live on campus when there were clearly not enough beds for such a policy to work.

-An iPod? Please?