[312] in UA Exec
Re: You are being lied to.
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Daniel Hawkins)
Tue Apr 6 15:00:56 2010
Reply-To: hwkns@MIT.EDU
In-Reply-To: <o2t5d5020731004061157i3c0d6712t69c7c1091e0e3c49@mail.gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 6 Apr 2010 15:00:39 -0400
From: Daniel Hawkins <hwkns@MIT.EDU>
To: Keri Garel <thekeri@mit.edu>
Cc: Jessica H Lowell <jessiehl@mit.edu>, Martin F Holmes <goholmes@mit.edu>,
"Liz A. Denys" <lizdenys@mit.edu>, Andrew Lukmann <lukymann@mit.edu>,
Ted Hilk <thilk@mit.edu>, Nathaniel Fox <natefox@mit.edu>,
Alexandra Jordan <amjordan@mit.edu>,
Anthony Rindone <arindone@mit.edu>, UA Senate <ua-senate@mit.edu>,
UA Executive Board <ua-exec@mit.edu>, cfs@mit.edu
--0016e68ba1c9cb4ccb0483960f26
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Charles Stewart and John Essigman are fine people, but their perspective (at
least on dining matters) is very much "it doesn't matter what students say;
we know what's best for them."
-hwkns
On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 2:57 PM, Keri Garel <thekeri@mit.edu> wrote:
> I second the recommendation of Matt McGann and also strongly suggest
> avoiding Dean Randolph.
>
> Charles Stewart and John Essigmann are housemasters of McCormick and
> Simmons (respectively) - I've worked with both of them in the past, and
> they'd both be good people to turn to.
>
> -Keri
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 2:47 PM, Jessica H Lowell <jessiehl@mit.edu> wrote:
>
>> I second Winston and Wartman (and I would add Abelson, Sussman, and Slocum
>> to
>> the category of sympathetic profs. Gray somewhat varies by issue - I have
>> no
>> idea what he thinks about Dining. Personally, I wouldn't generally take
>> senior
>> admins into my confidence on controversial issues - they can be helpful to
>> work
>> with, but there's a difference between a helpful partner and someone you
>> really
>> trust. Hastings and Lerman both signed on to today's letter in the Tech -
>> make
>> of that what you will.
>>
>> I would add Matt McGann in Admissions as someone I'd trust absolutely and
>> who
>> can give good advice.
>>
>> I *strongly* dis-recommend Randolph.
>>
>> - Jessie
>>
>>
>> Quoting Martin F Holmes <goholmes@MIT.EDU>:
>>
>> Whenever I got the impression that students were being manipulated by the
>>> administration, there were a few key people I always went to for advice
>>> or
>>> help. Here's my laundry list of great contacts that you can be very
>>> forward
>>> and upfront with and who will listen to you and provide solid
>>> confidential
>>> advice:
>>>
>>> Dan Hastings (Dean for Undergraduate Education, not involved with DSL but
>>> great
>>> advocate and still has influence, respect, and power with senior admins)
>>>
>>> Bish Sanyal (former Chair of the Faculty, very sympathetic to student
>>> concerns,
>>> not sure of his current sway as former chair though)
>>>
>>> Paul Gray (former President, hard to get a meeting with, not directly
>>> involved
>>> with administration, but can provide you with great advice and still use
>>> his
>>> weight when he desires to add pressure to a situation)
>>>
>>> Phil Walsh (Director of Campus Activities Complex, very experienced and
>>> knowledgeable, able to provide good advice, has some sway within DSL and
>>> great
>>> experience with dining in the past)
>>>
>>> Anne McCants (former Chair of Faculty Committee on Student Life, huge
>>> student
>>> advocate, likely still has some influence within DSL)
>>>
>>> Jim Champy (one of the most influence members of the Corporation, member
>>> of
>>> Executive Committee of the Corporation, very difficult to get ahold of
>>> and
>>> likely requires a meeting request from Mike, Maggie, Vrajesh, or Sammi, a
>>> huge
>>> student ally although he usually works behind the scenes, provides very
>>> reasonable and balanced advice, has a ton of sway withing all levels of
>>> MIT)
>>>
>>> Steve Lerman (Vice Chancellor, about to leave MIT, provides awesome
>>> confidential
>>> advice, listens well to students, has huge sway within the administration
>>> but
>>> that may be subsiding given his pending departure from MIT)
>>>
>>> Rafael Reif (Provost, hard to get a meeting with, listens and sympathizes
>>> with
>>> students but requires a degree of tact since he's clearly a member of the
>>> senior admin, has a tremendous amount of sway and leverage)
>>>
>>> Dana Mead (Chairman of the Corporation, retiring at end of year, strong
>>> student
>>> advocate but also requires tremendous tact since he is a senior leader of
>>> MIT,
>>> tremendous amount of sway)
>>>
>>> Patrick Winston (Professor, very sympathetic to student concerns and
>>> provides
>>> good advice, limited sway withing DSL)
>>>
>>> Jed Wartman (limited sway but provides good sound advice)
>>>
>>> Robert Randolph (limited sway but provides good sound advice)
>>>
>>> I'd also recommend combing through recent issues of The Tech and Faculty
>>> Newsletter to identify other members of the faculty, administratior, or
>>> Corporation that you feel like may be strong student advocates.
>>>
>>> Martin
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Quoting "Liz A. Denys" <lizdenys@MIT.EDU>:
>>>
>>> I have a pretty well established relationship with Muriel. I'll try to
>>>> meet with her this week.
>>>>
>>>> -Liz
>>>>
>>>> Andrew Lukmann wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hey Ted,
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm sorry to hear that, but it certainly makes sense given my
>>>>> experience with her when she was an Asst. Housemaster at Simmons (5-7 yrs.
>>>>> ago). I mentioned her mostly for the fact that she is one of the few people
>>>>> who are usually willing to talk with students and who, by the nature of her
>>>>> position, has some real leverage over DSL. In general, she's probably
>>>>> someone that active student advocates should build a relationship with -
>>>>> even if she proves to be altogether unhelpful on the dining front, she may
>>>>> be willing to take a stand on other things that students care about.
>>>>>
>>>>> -Andrew L.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Ted Hilk wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hey Andrew,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The last time I spoke with Prof. Muriel Medard, she was trying to
>>>>>> justify reducing financial aid by $1400 for students opting out of the
>>>>>> dining plan when the actual difference in expenses between dining hall food
>>>>>> and cooking for oneself over a year is only $500 on average. Nevermind the
>>>>>> fact that this would essentially be predicating student aid on student
>>>>>> choices (should I get extra financial aid if I want a new computer?). After
>>>>>> half an hour she finally admitted that the amount was arbitrary and that the
>>>>>> extra deduction was solely intended to 'encourage' students to buy into the
>>>>>> dining system. She is very polite and willing to talk at great length about
>>>>>> issues, but I'm afraid she does not appear to be in support of the student
>>>>>> perspective on this matter.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Ted
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Sun, Apr 4, 2010 at 7:12 PM, Andrew Lukmann <lukymann@mit.edu<mailto:
>>>>>> lukymann@mit.edu>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hey Jessie (and everybody else)...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Like you pointed out, a number of reliable student allies in the
>>>>>> administration have moved on and on the whole, less cooperative
>>>>>> people have replaced them. Without a guy like Immer or Larry to go
>>>>>> to, this generation of student leaders is (I believe) having a
>>>>>> harder leveraging their relationships than we did. That said,
>>>>>> there are still a number of people who might have a bit of pull in
>>>>>> DSL that I would recommend people engage, if they haven't already:
>>>>>> Phil Walsh (CAC), Ann McCants (former faculty CSL chair), Muriel
>>>>>> Medard (CSL chair - though her opinions on dining might be
>>>>>> well-ingrained). Also, even though he is on his way out, I've
>>>>>> always found Steve Lerman to be a friend to students and he might
>>>>>> be in the position to speak (or act) a little more freely now that
>>>>>> he is moving to GWU.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I think it's great to see a number of students realizing that they
>>>>>> need to hold administrators feet to the fire when they fall short
>>>>>> of their own rhetoric/promises regarding meaningfully engaging
>>>>>> students on important issues. If you (and I do mean all of you)
>>>>>> don't make it difficult (or embarrassing) for them to ignore you,
>>>>>> they will never have any incentive to act in your best interest
>>>>>> any time it conflicts with the easiest path to their goals (in
>>>>>> this case, dining cost effectiveness).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Keep it up!
>>>>>> -Andrew L.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Jessica H Lowell wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Quoting Daniel Hawkins <hwkns@MIT.EDU <mailto:hwkns@MIT.EDU>>:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Jessie,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> We tried coming up with our own proposal last year (DPC).
>>>>>> Admins keep
>>>>>> calling it "an important piece of student input" and
>>>>>> completely ignoring its
>>>>>> contents. What's driving this is the desire to eliminate
>>>>>> the deficit and
>>>>>> "build community" around dining, which involves less
>>>>>> choice and more money
>>>>>> (but not MIT's money - they need to eliminate the
>>>>>> deficit). Those are
>>>>>> principles that everyone in the administration (that I'm
>>>>>> aware of) agrees
>>>>>> on. I haven't talked to Matt - I'll send him an e-mail.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Yeah, I saw the proposal. It looked like a good step. It's
>>>>>> the same old story
>>>>>> with Dining. When I dealt with that, though, it was easier,
>>>>>> because larryben
>>>>>> (Columbo's predecessor) was still around and he was on our
>>>>>> side.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Who does Columbo listen to? Presumably Phil Clay, but I doubt
>>>>>> Clay's useful
>>>>>> here. Immerman's gone, so that's a non-starter. The FSILGs
>>>>>> generally have a
>>>>>> stake in students not getting screwed over on Dining, since
>>>>>> less choice often
>>>>>> hurts their frosh and on-campus members - is anyone on the
>>>>>> FSILG side of the
>>>>>> Student Life staff persuadable and trusted by Columbo? Could
>>>>>> any of the RLAs
>>>>>> help here? If Admissions has any influence with Columbo,
>>>>>> which they may not,
>>>>>> they'd likely be willing to help you out with him.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> It sounds like if you keep working primarily with Columbo,
>>>>>> you're not going to
>>>>>> get anywhere. Obviously, you have to work with him,
>>>>>> communicate with him, not
>>>>>> antagonize him too much. But that doesn't mean you can't work
>>>>>> with other
>>>>>> people (sounds like a good project for a senator or two!).
>>>>>> And if you can dig
>>>>>> up administrative allies, they might be able to make more
>>>>>> progress with Columbo
>>>>>> than you can.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Have you bugged your rich potential-big-donor alumni? Many
>>>>>> FSILGs and some dorm
>>>>>> living groups keep in contact with a lot of their alumni, and
>>>>>> might be able to
>>>>>> dig up a few wealthy folks who would be pissed about students
>>>>>> being screwed
>>>>>> over on dining.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The UA has little real power given to it - it has to find ways
>>>>>> to manufacture
>>>>>> its own.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> - Jessie
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Liz A. Denys
>>>> lizdenys@mit.edu
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
> Keri Garel
> Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
> MIT Class of 2010
> thekeri@mit.edu
> http://keri.mitblogs.com/
>
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Charles Stewart and John Essigman are fine people, but their perspective (a=
t least on dining matters) is very much "it doesn't matter what st=
udents say; we know what's best for them."<br><br>-hwkns<br><br>
<div class=3D"gmail_quote">On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 2:57 PM, Keri Garel <span=
dir=3D"ltr"><<a href=3D"mailto:thekeri@mit.edu">thekeri@mit.edu</a>>=
</span> wrote:<br><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin: 0pt 0p=
t 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;"=
>
I second the recommendation of Matt McGann and also strongly suggest avoidi=
ng Dean Randolph.<div><br></div><div>Charles Stewart and John Essigmann are=
housemasters of McCormick and Simmons (respectively) - I've worked wit=
h both of them in the past, and they'd both be good people to turn to.<=
/div>
<div><br></div><div>-Keri<div><div></div><div class=3D"h5"><br><br><div cla=
ss=3D"gmail_quote">On Tue, Apr 6, 2010 at 2:47 PM, Jessica H Lowell <span d=
ir=3D"ltr"><<a href=3D"mailto:jessiehl@mit.edu" target=3D"_blank">jessie=
hl@mit.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; borde=
r-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
I second Winston and Wartman (and I would add Abelson, Sussman, and Slocum =
to<br>
the category of sympathetic profs. =A0Gray somewhat varies by issue - I hav=
e no<br>
idea what he thinks about Dining. =A0Personally, I wouldn't generally t=
ake senior<br>
admins into my confidence on controversial issues - they can be helpful to =
work<br>
with, but there's a difference between a helpful partner and someone yo=
u really<br>
trust. =A0Hastings and Lerman both signed on to today's letter in the T=
ech - make<br>
of that what you will.<br>
<br>
I would add Matt McGann in Admissions as someone I'd trust absolutely a=
nd who<br>
can give good advice.<br>
<br>
I *strongly* dis-recommend Randolph.<br>
<br>
- Jessie<div><div></div><div><br>
<br>
Quoting Martin F Holmes <<a href=3D"mailto:goholmes@MIT.EDU" target=3D"_=
blank">goholmes@MIT.EDU</a>>:<br>
<br>
<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; borde=
r-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
Whenever I got the impression that students were being manipulated by the<b=
r>
administration, there were a few key people I always went to for advice or<=
br>
help. =A0Here's my laundry list of great contacts that you can be very =
forward<br>
and upfront with and who will listen to you and provide solid confidential<=
br>
advice:<br>
<br>
Dan Hastings (Dean for Undergraduate Education, not involved with DSL but g=
reat<br>
advocate and still has influence, respect, and power with senior admins)<br=
>
<br>
Bish Sanyal (former Chair of the Faculty, very sympathetic to student conce=
rns,<br>
not sure of his current sway as former chair though)<br>
<br>
Paul Gray (former President, hard to get a meeting with, not directly invol=
ved<br>
with administration, but can provide you with great advice and still use hi=
s<br>
weight when he desires to add pressure to a situation)<br>
<br>
Phil Walsh (Director of Campus Activities Complex, very experienced and<br>
knowledgeable, able to provide good advice, has some sway within DSL and gr=
eat<br>
experience with dining in the past)<br>
<br>
Anne McCants (former Chair of Faculty Committee on Student Life, huge stude=
nt<br>
advocate, likely still has some influence within DSL)<br>
<br>
Jim Champy (one of the most influence members of the Corporation, member of=
<br>
Executive Committee of the Corporation, very difficult to get ahold of and<=
br>
likely requires a meeting request from Mike, Maggie, Vrajesh, or Sammi, a h=
uge<br>
student ally although he usually works behind the scenes, provides very<br>
reasonable and balanced advice, has a ton of sway withing all levels of MIT=
)<br>
<br>
Steve Lerman (Vice Chancellor, about to leave MIT, provides awesome confide=
ntial<br>
advice, listens well to students, has huge sway within the administration b=
ut<br>
that may be subsiding given his pending departure from MIT)<br>
<br>
Rafael Reif (Provost, hard to get a meeting with, listens and sympathizes w=
ith<br>
students but requires a degree of tact since he's clearly a member of t=
he<br>
senior admin, has a tremendous amount of sway and leverage)<br>
<br>
Dana Mead (Chairman of the Corporation, retiring at end of year, strong stu=
dent<br>
advocate but also requires tremendous tact since he is a senior leader of M=
IT,<br>
tremendous amount of sway)<br>
<br>
Patrick Winston (Professor, very sympathetic to student concerns and provid=
es<br>
good advice, limited sway withing DSL)<br>
<br>
Jed Wartman (limited sway but provides good sound advice)<br>
<br>
Robert Randolph (limited sway but provides good sound advice)<br>
<br>
I'd also recommend combing through recent issues of The Tech and Facult=
y<br>
Newsletter to identify other members of the faculty, administratior, or<br>
Corporation that you feel like may be strong student advocates.<br>
<br>
Martin<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
Quoting "Liz A. Denys" <<a href=3D"mailto:lizdenys@MIT.EDU" ta=
rget=3D"_blank">lizdenys@MIT.EDU</a>>:<br>
<br>
<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; borde=
r-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
I have a pretty well established relationship with Muriel. I'll try to =
meet with her this week.<br>
<br>
-Liz<br>
<br>
Andrew Lukmann wrote:<br>
<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; borde=
r-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
Hey Ted,<br>
<br>
I'm sorry to hear that, but it certainly makes sense given my experienc=
e with her when she was an Asst. Housemaster at Simmons (5-7 yrs. ago). I m=
entioned her mostly for the fact that she is one of the few people who are =
usually willing to talk with students and who, by the nature of her positio=
n, has some real leverage over DSL. In general, she's probably someone =
that active student advocates should build a relationship with - even if sh=
e proves to be altogether unhelpful on the dining front, she may be willing=
to take a stand on other things that students care about.<br>
<br>
-Andrew L.<br>
<br>
<br>
Ted Hilk wrote:<br>
<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; borde=
r-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;">
Hey Andrew,<br>
<br>
The last time I spoke with Prof. Muriel Medard, she was trying to justify r=
educing financial aid by $1400 for students opting out of the dining plan w=
hen the actual difference in expenses between dining hall food and cooking =
for oneself over a year is only $500 on average. =A0Nevermind the fact that=
this would essentially be predicating student aid on student choices (shou=
ld I get extra financial aid if I want a new computer?). =A0After half an h=
our she finally admitted that the amount was arbitrary and that the extra d=
eduction was solely intended to 'encourage' students to buy into th=
e dining system. =A0She is very polite and willing to talk at great length =
about issues, but I'm afraid she does not appear to be in support of th=
e student perspective on this matter.<br>
<br>
Ted<br>
<br>
<br>
On Sun, Apr 4, 2010 at 7:12 PM, Andrew Lukmann <<a href=3D"mailto:lukyma=
nn@mit.edu" target=3D"_blank">lukymann@mit.edu</a> <mailto:<a href=3D"ma=
ilto:lukymann@mit.edu" target=3D"_blank">lukymann@mit.edu</a>>> wrote=
:<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0Hey Jessie (and everybody else)...<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0Like you pointed out, a number of reliable student allies in the<br=
>
=A0 =A0administration have moved on and on the whole, less cooperative<br>
=A0 =A0people have replaced them. Without a guy like Immer or Larry to go<=
br>
=A0 =A0to, this generation of student leaders is (I believe) having a<br>
=A0 =A0harder leveraging their relationships than we did. That said,<br>
=A0 =A0there are still a number of people who might have a bit of pull in<=
br>
=A0 =A0DSL that I would recommend people engage, if they haven't alrea=
dy:<br>
=A0 =A0Phil Walsh (CAC), Ann McCants (former faculty CSL chair), Muriel<br=
>
=A0 =A0Medard (CSL chair - though her opinions on dining might be<br>
=A0 =A0well-ingrained). Also, even though he is on his way out, I've<b=
r>
=A0 =A0always found Steve Lerman to be a friend to students and he might<b=
r>
=A0 =A0be in the position to speak (or act) a little more freely now that<=
br>
=A0 =A0he is moving to GWU.<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0I think it's great to see a number of students realizing that t=
hey<br>
=A0 =A0need to hold administrators feet to the fire when they fall short<b=
r>
=A0 =A0of their own rhetoric/promises regarding meaningfully engaging<br>
=A0 =A0students on important issues. If you (and I do mean all of you)<br>
=A0 =A0don't make it difficult (or embarrassing) for them to ignore yo=
u,<br>
=A0 =A0they will never have any incentive to act in your best interest<br>
=A0 =A0any time it conflicts with the easiest path to their goals (in<br>
=A0 =A0this case, dining cost effectiveness).<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0Keep it up!<br>
=A0 =A0-Andrew L.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0Jessica H Lowell wrote:<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Quoting Daniel Hawkins <<a href=3D"mailto:hwkns@MIT.EDU"=
target=3D"_blank">hwkns@MIT.EDU</a> <mailto:<a href=3D"mailto:hwkns@MIT=
.EDU" target=3D"_blank">hwkns@MIT.EDU</a>>>:<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Jessie,<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0We tried coming up with our own proposal last year =
(DPC).<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 Admins keep<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0calling it "an important piece of student inpu=
t" and<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0completely ignoring its<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0contents. =A0What's driving this is the desire =
to eliminate<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0the deficit and<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0"build community" around dining, which in=
volves less<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0choice and more money<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0(but not MIT's money - they need to eliminate t=
he<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0deficit). =A0Those are<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0principles that everyone in the administration (tha=
t I'm<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0aware of) agrees<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0on. =A0I haven't talked to Matt - I'll send=
him an e-mail.<br>
<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Yeah, I saw the proposal. =A0It looked like a good step. =
=A0It's<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0the same old story<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0with Dining. =A0When I dealt with that, though, it was easi=
er,<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0because larryben<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0(Columbo's predecessor) was still around and he was on =
our side.<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Who does Columbo listen to? =A0Presumably Phil Clay, but I =
doubt<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Clay's useful<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0here. =A0Immerman's gone, so that's a non-starter. =
=A0The FSILGs<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0generally have a<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0stake in students not getting screwed over on Dining, since=
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0less choice often<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0hurts their frosh and on-campus members - is anyone on the<=
br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0FSILG side of the<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Student Life staff persuadable and trusted by Columbo? =A0C=
ould<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0any of the RLAs<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0help here? =A0If Admissions has any influence with Columbo,=
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0which they may not,<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0they'd likely be willing to help you out with him.<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0It sounds like if you keep working primarily with Columbo,<=
br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0you're not going to<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0get anywhere. =A0Obviously, you have to work with him,<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0communicate with him, not<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0antagonize him too much. =A0But that doesn't mean you c=
an't work<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0with other<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0people (sounds like a good project for a senator or two!).<=
br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 And if you can dig<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0up administrative allies, they might be able to make more<b=
r>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0progress with Columbo<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0than you can.<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Have you bugged your rich potential-big-donor alumni? =A0Ma=
ny<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0FSILGs and some dorm<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0living groups keep in contact with a lot of their alumni, a=
nd<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0might be able to<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0dig up a few wealthy folks who would be pissed about studen=
ts<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0being screwed<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0over on dining.<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0The UA has little real power given to it - it has to find w=
ays<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0to manufacture<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0its own.<br>
<br>
=A0 =A0 =A0 =A0- Jessie<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
-- <br>
Liz A. Denys<br>
<a href=3D"mailto:lizdenys@mit.edu" target=3D"_blank">lizdenys@mit.edu</a><=
br>
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear=3D"all"><br></div></div>-- <br=
>----------------------------------------------------------------<br>Keri G=
arel<br>Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences<br>MIT Class of 2010<br>
<a href=3D"mailto:thekeri@mit.edu" target=3D"_blank">thekeri@mit.edu</a><br=
>
<a href=3D"http://keri.mitblogs.com/" target=3D"_blank">http://keri.mitblog=
s.com/</a><br>
</div>
</blockquote></div><br><div style=3D"visibility: hidden; display: inline;" =
id=3D"avg_ls_inline_popup"></div><style type=3D"text/css">#avg_ls_inline_po=
pup { position:absolute; z-index:9999; padding: 0px 0px; margin-left: 0=
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;}</style>
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