ESC’s meeting Monday night was filled with cheer and jovial council members as they discussed many matters before the start of Thanksgiving Break.

First, the presidents of each class provided an update on activities planning, t-shirt selling, and other miscellaneous matters.

Next up were the liaisons to SGA, CCSC and GSSC, who provided updates on policies in the Diana, the progress of the judicial process changes and GS swipe access, respectively.

The next topic discussed was an issue dear and near to many students’ hearts – dining.  According to the Student Services Representative Nathan Lee, SEAS ’12, dining services are looking to change the structure of the dining plans.  Apparently, Ferris Booth Commons is losing revenue and students as many students go off campus in their quest for food at restaurants that accept Flex.  The new dining plan, which should be in place by the 2010-2011 academic year, might include a meals by week plan, floating meals that carry over from semester to semester and more locations that accept meal swipes.

Executive Board members then provided updates from their respective committees. Vice president of policy Kelly Chen provided an update on SEAS Pride billboards, gender-neutral housing and the establishment of a new minor in Sustainable Engineering.  Secretary Heidi Ahmed then spoke briefly about SEAS NY. Vice president of student life Chris Elizondo talked about E-Weeks and the goal “to have an E-Weeks unlike any other E-Weeks witnessed by the Fu Foundation.”

Last to go was vice president of intergroup Gunnar Aasen who introduced the Varsity Show Technical Support Found Proposal and Resolution.  The 115th Varsity Show had a surplus of $15,000 and is using the money to create a fund that will be able to cover technical costs such as lighting rentals, technical fees and microphone rentals for performing arts groups on campus.  The treasurers of CCSC, ESC and GSSC will handle administration of the fund.  ESC passed the resolution unanimously.

On another note, it looks like ESC will have a website again.  ESC approved the appointment of John Liu, SEAS ’13, as the ESC director of technology.  Liu spoke about his qualifications, which include a being Sun-certified Java Programmer and coding for the Taiwan Police Department, and fielded questions from council members, including a question on his favorite cereal.   President Whitney Green then talked about server issues and discussions with CUIT about the server for ESC.

The meeting closed with a general discussion on the SEAS community.  Members had been assigned the task of talking with other Columbia students about perceptions of SEAS students, their SEAS experiences, SEAS pride, etc.  Topics were varied and included questions like, are SEAS students smarter than CC students?  Is the SEAS community stronger than the CC community? And does SEAS get less recognition from the outside world?

Green then ended the meeting with a homework assignment — to enjoy Thanksgiving!