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Thursday, November 16,2000 - Page 2 NEWS Alumni Affairs forms new Student Alumni Council NYKOLE TYSON According to Rytter, the money that is they can participate knowledgeably upon port that can be administered to the college. Sta!fwriter left over from tuition is not sufficient in keep- graduation," said Eyler. Because the school is not making enough Forsome~MCstudents,thoughtsofbe- ing the flow of activities running effectively Furthermore, the office will be provid- money from tuition, alumni donations and ing an alumn may be far off, but a newly on campus. ing monetary support for this group, so the alumni involvement, WMC has to use money formed committee may Change that. This lack of funds to efficiently operate members will not have receive allocations from the college's endowment fund. The Student Alumni Committee, brain- the function of WMC is a result of the de- from the Student Government Assembly. An example of this is the college's Red child of Alumni Affairs, will serve to bring crease in alumni donations and support. Will there be a strong involvement offac- Square, which was given as an endowment. .currenr students together with alumni and Because of this concern, Rytter saw the utty in the process of this council? While other colleges use the interest from will help to strengthen student ties to the need to create a new Student Alumni Coun- Rytteremphasized his role in the council their endowments to pay their operating ex- campus. cil which would encourage undergraduates is not "to control this at all." penses, WMC "dips directly into it," said By starting the council, Randy Rytter, a to interact with alumni and find out what He adds, "The council is student led and, Rytter. 1997 graduate and now the associate of di- there role will be as an alumni upon gradua- will always be, my role is one of advisor." "We are not generating enough money rector of Alumni Affairs, hopes to reverse tion. Though it was Alumni Affairs idea to start from the Annual Fund." the trend in the decline of donations to the Senior Brittany Benton, a sociology ma- the council, "we are fortunate that students This results in other schools greatly in- school. jor, is the president of the council, who be- want to be a part of it," said Rytter. creasing their endowments while WMC de- The goals of the council include educat- came involved with the new endeavor, Currently, the school receives money by clines in its value from the withdrawals that ing students about the importance of support through her involvement as an intern in the annually soliciting alumni and friends of the need to be made. to WMC, connecting students to their class, Alumni Affairs office. college. "Without support from them," said "At the rare the college is going, the col- to alumni and WMC, and placing students Overseeing the special events committee, Ryner, "we would not be able to function on lege will remain at status quo." in alumni leadership roles upon graduation junior Megan Pickette, a psychology major, the level that WMC is right now." The council's purpose is to try to boost from WMC. said, "I don't think students see the impor- Although support from past graduates is the funding to WMC by educating and get- With the start of the new council, Rytter tance of being a proactive alumni. I think important to the well-being ofWMC, it has ting undergraduates involved with these is- says, "We are trying to send the message that it's important for students to interact with been very low over the past few years. sues at an early stage in their college career. I ~~e:~~ri~tg ~of~n~~;i~~y ~r ~:~~~~~~~ ~~~:~~~~'th~; ;:~~=;:n~~~~~~~~~~~Wid:'~~th;~:~~~~ih::,=a~~:;~~~:l:~ cati:;:~:~~~~:~:~ ~~~gi~~~~~t.:;est isedu- to the continued success of the college." Linda Eyler, office manager of Alumni donations to the Annual Fund, which means She adds, "I myself did not know how I Right now WMC's endowment fund is suf- Affairs, says that many students don't know that only 28% of alumni contributed.. important donations and support from alumni fering. what it means to be an alumni, and the pur- 'That's so low, it's ridiculous," exclaimed are to keep the school running successfully." Less than 25% of the students pay the pose of the undergraduate Alumni Council Rytter. • Benton hopes students will get involved I total amount of tuition," said Rytter. Many "is to gel students to be more knowledge- When the word support is mentioned the and take interest in the community projects students receive grants and scholarships from able about what it means to be an Alumni." thought that comes to mind is money. and activities that will be planned. These the school in addition to Pell Grants issued Its purpose is to also "educate students While donations are the biggest support projects are being planned in hopes to bridge I by the government, he noted. about the function of the alumni council so the college needs, they are not the only sup- the gap between alumni, students, and WMC. I SGA's open forum breeds discussion of Bill of Rights . MEGAN K. MARTIN was one of up to 30 students who floated in Resident Assistants in attendance were Bronson felt that those present were en- Student Governmem Reporter and out of meeting. Since the meeting was concerned. couraged to state their opinions on a range in Ensor Lounge, it was easy for students to "The way they have it set up," said of topics. whether individual SGA members The Student Bill of Rights, a Student catch a few minutes. of the open'f,9fUm on Stroope, an RA, "RA's don't have that power agreed or not. Government Assembly effort to clearly de- their way somewhere else. at the present moment." RA's only document Some other important" issues discussed I fine all rights of WMC students, was dis- A number of students stayed for the en- what they observe. The Residence Life Co- were renovations of dorms, faculty advising cussed at an Open Forum session on Novem- tire meeting and actively discussed certain I ordinator decides the violation and the pun- of students, and availability and reliability ber 9. Lasting just over two hours, the points in the Student Bill of Rights. ishrnent. "We're not cops," she pointed out. Of campus computers. session's purpose w·a.s to discuss the SGA's Point 10 was one of the most debated Stroope sees a problem with student non- "Everything the students brought up I basic goals before calling (or a student ref- points. compliance to sign the forms, making viola- might be something individual SGA mem- on establishing focuses This proposal I erendum on the Bill. of the open forum has al right for all to "receive verbal explanation the tions the RA's , bers had not seen before," word "The purpose against ways been to gauge the pulse of the student and written notification of a policy violation the resident's. S t eve n body and to provide a welcoming venue for charge being brought against them at the time Point nine, Sharkey, SGA them to voice their concerns," SGA vice of the said violation." which seeks to pre sid e n t , president Amanda Cline noted. Senior class president Jeremiah Kelly guarantee 24 stated. "I thought it was very productive," se- summarized the idea, saying it was modeled hour notice be- Stroope ;::N=-=::e=w==r"e=g:::_::i::s=t:::r=a=r:_:"'n=a=m==e=d~·,====--':,g~::~~:~:~; ~~~~',~;~;' ! nior Celia Stroope said of the meeting. She on the procedure for a speeding ticket. fore any col- 0 b s e r v e d , room, was also thing that was Dolid leaves for new job ~:~i(::'::pa~ ;::~~~:~:~ Snci L. GF.ORGE is November 21.lncldentally, his Jan Term sees a problem following ~ ":V!O;:ul:~==~~ti~~ Plant. Work or- Jamin Bartolomeo discusses the Student Bi/l of Rights through." W hen cooking class bas been cancelled for 2001. Editor News with Physical Barry Bosley, director of Facilities vote the current assistant that Brenda Davidson. ~ during tbe Fall 2000 semester,lIl us Managemeatand Auxiliary Services, said ders take long enough, and giving such no- students is "pretty on the points of the Bill, tice could delay them even more, she fears. sure all of [the students] Sharkey I@dents shall expect to see new faces director ofPOOd Services. will be promoted Josh Bronson, a senior and an RA, sees a will heartily agree with each point." amoaglhe faculty and staffwitbin the next to Dolid's position, and the transition will bigger problem. Those in attendance mostly agreed that fewmontb:;, be made over the Thanksgiving break. "The problem is, in my eyes, it says to the Student Bill of Rights was an important last issue of the Phoenix reported "We're going to miss Alan's culinary people it's okay to have things in their room document. Stroope said, "I think most stu- a new registrar had been hired. how- expertise; Brenda's been here a number of that violate policy," he said. According to dents will agree with a majority of points." er Inrerim Provost Sam Case could not years and we're excited about her moving Bronson, "The 24 hour [right] seems to be Overall, the evening was seen positively. release her name until he had received up," said Bosley. specifically designed to hide things." Sharkey said, "This was incredible. It beats application. Since then. Case bas con- The previous positions held by Bonnie There was mixed reaction to the docu- all open forums I've been to but one." ed that Jan Kiphart. who is the current Bosley, Health Education Coordinator, and ment as a whole. Sharkey said at least one more open forum . rrar at Mount Sf. Mary's College of Scott Kane. director of Residence Life and Senior Chelsy Bunch said, "I read over is-in the works for the spring semester. land, will fiU the vacant WMC regis- assistant dean of Student Affajrs. respec- it, and it sounds great." She felt that there SGA members encouraged the students position beginning January 3, 2001. tively, are currently vacant. are some surprisingly important points not to attend their meetings on Thursday nights Since the last publication of the Phoe- Applications for the formerposftion are covered in the Student Guide and Datebook.'7 at 8 pm in Hill 110. Shelly Sorenson, sopho- . ,Nan Dolid. director of Food Services, due November 17. wbiJethe iaterposilioo's Bronson has a different take on the docu- more class representative, remarked, "[IJt is banded in his resignation. Dolid says applications were due November 10, said ment. "I think, as a whole, some of it says key that people come to student government he has accepted a promotion and will Philip S~t vice president' and dean of some pretty useless stuff that's said else- meetings; [students] are not heard when they me the Area Chef of Educational Ser- Student Affairs. where." He continued, "There are some talk in their groups." Sodexo/Marriot and will be re- He also noted thai the applications will pretty important things, too." for covering me United States then reviewed and decisions will be made They agreed that the open forum was a Student referendum on the Student Bill of Chicago.. His last ~y tm campus in tbe upooming_ good place to have their opinions heard. of Rights teok place on November 14 'and IS. At press time, results were unavailable.