SGA considers e-mail control bill

Author: Liz Campbell

The Student Government Association (SGA) convened Sunday in the Robert A. Jones '59 Conference Room to resolve current proposals that have not yet been finalized and to set forth final goals for the remainder of the spring semester. At the top of the list was the E-mail List Control Bill, sponsored by Senator Andrew Carnabuci '06, that seeks to establish individual "do not e-mail" lists, through which students can specify that they would not like to receive any e-mails from organizations on campus.

The bill was created in order to address recurrent student complaints about the chronic congestion of students' inboxes. Carnabuci pointed out that it is "ridiculous to keep getting intramural sports e-mails every week when I have no interest whatsoever in playing IM sports." To combat this problem, Carnabuci called for several organizations, most notably Middlebury College Activities Board (MCAB), Career Services Office (CSO) and the Intramural Sports Program, to provide students with a system by which they could remove themselves from the all-student e-mail list.

After discussion of the bill, many members of the Senate voiced concern that students might impulsively decide to unsubscribe from the e-mail list of an organization and then unintentially forgo an opportunity. Carnabuci responded, "I understand the value of keeping the Middlebury community informed, but I value students' rights to not get a million e-mails they don't want even more."

Although the Senate voted against the bill by a vote of 15-2, members agreed that e-mail regulation is an issue worth addressing in other ways. Carnabuci said, "I expect we can still do something to help keep unwanted e-mails out of peoples' inboxes. Most likely, however, this will not take the form of a bill but rather some private conversations."

While the issue of how best to resolve the e-mail overflow dominated discussion, the Senate also addressed the recurrent problem of missing cups and plates from the dining halls in response to complaints from Dining Services that an estimated $40,000 will be spent on replacing dishware this year. A possible solution that was discussed included requiring students who take dishes with them to temporarily hand over their college ID cards to a dining hall staff member upon leaving the dining halls in order to increase accountability among students.

The Senate members also discussed proposals that have been considered in the past, such as putting paper cups near the coffee and tea, introducing competitions among the commons to record who collects the most dishware and promoting an educational campaign that would better inform students of how much money the College is spending on replacing dishware each year.

The Senate briefly talked about the SafeRides program, a proposal created by Carnabuci to eliminate drunk driving among students by employing student drivers and dispatchers to provide rides back from off-campus houses on Friday and Saturday nights. Because passengers and employees will be required to sign contracts that will free the College and the SGA from liability, the Senate is trying to develop ideas of how to get students to sign such contracts.

While the bill has already passed through the Senate unanimously and an amendment regarding how the contracts will work is currently outlined, the SGA and the administration are waiting for the review and approval of the College attorney.

Carnabuci emphasized, "SafeRides has been an entirely grassroots movement every step of the way, coming from student suggestions and demands, up through the Senate to the administration, not the other way around. I think that makes it an exceptionally excellent and worthwhile program because it reflects students' desire to help fellow students be safe."

Finally, the Senate considered a recent proposal from the Community Council regarding smoking outside of building entrances. Members of the Staff Council raised concerns to the Community Council about an apparent increase in smoking outside of buildings, arguing that members of the community should not have to walk through smokers in order to enter a building. The SGA, with the help of the Faculty Council and Staff Council, will develop a proposal over the next month to give to the Community Council before its April meeting.

The SGA concluded the meeting by agreeing to support a financial request by the College Democrats for an upcoming discussion on March 15 with Anthony Arnove, co-editor of Voices of the People's History of the United States. Members of the SGA also agreed that it would help post flyers in order to generate more publicity for the meeting, which is seeking to increase diversity and tolerance efforts among the campus community.