Vice President of Student and Administrative Services Scott Wright discussed issues ranging from enforcement of the University’s partial smoking ban to alcohol storage at a Columbia College Student Council meeting on Sunday night.
The University Senate banned smoking within 20 feet of buildings on the Morningside Heights campus in December 2010. University Senator Alex Frouman, CC ’12—who helped craft that policy—said at the CCSC meeting that Wright had failed to adequately communicate the policy across campus.
Frouman said that Wright “did represent himself to the senate as the person responsible for the ban,” and that Wright hadn’t responded to his questions about enforcement of the policy since September. Wright responded that he sent an email to the appropriate deans of students about enforcing the policy and that he was not obligated to police smoking outside of academic buildings.
Wright also noted that he hadn’t seen a lot of people violating the policy. Some buildings have signs by their doors advertising the 20-foot rule.
“One of the reasons so many people here don’t do things is that if you try to do things that make the campus better, people end up attacking you,” Wright said. “What I can’t do is ease into some role as the only person here who is going to be responsible for taking action on smoking policy.”
Additionally, Class of 2013 Representative Alex Jasiulek brought up issues with the University’s alcohol use policy. He explained that at many University-sanctioned student events where there is alcohol, all unopened drinks have to be opened and poured down the drain at the end of the night.
Wright said that University Event Management does not oppose allowing students to keep unopened drinks, although he added that finding a space to store the alcohol might be an issue.
“We shouldn’t be wasting stuff,” Wright said. “We should find a better way to do it. Certainly there’s no agenda from a UEM point of view.”
Wright also discussed infrastructure spending on the Morningside Heights campus. The University currently spends about $2 million to $3 million per year on infrastructure, but administrators plan to triple this budget next year, while keeping the budget for cosmetic changes, like flooring and lighting repairs, at $4 million per year. He noted that his office is looking into renovating the Carman Hall lounge and the Furnald and John Jay hall floor lounges, as well as improving unfurnished lounges as part of a “capital plan.”
Wright also addressed complaints about the narrow spiral staircase in Ferris Booth Commons, saying that the facilities office is planning to study it.
“It’s a puzzle when I first saw it. It’s a puzzle today,” Wright said. “It’s a bad idea.”
At the end of the meeting, Barry Weinberg, CC ’12, emphasized the need for more student space on campus. Wright said he supported more student space, ending the meeting by saying that “anything can be done with enough money.”
Most students who attended the Sunday night meeting were CCSC members. CCSC President Aki Terasaki, CC ’12, said non-council turnout was not as high as he had hoped, adding that the council hadn’t done much publicity for the meeting.
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