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<div>Hello everyone,<br>
some of you may already be up to speed on the recent Student
Government Association (SGA) planning meetings. Below is a
summary of their recent meeting that Josiah Litant forwarded to
me, including a very important challenge that affects our areas
directly -- read the fourth bullet about under-representation.<br>
<br>
I highly encourage you all to see if anyone from your respective
centers can attend Friday's planning meeting and/or brainstorm
ideas among yourselves that you can always forward onto Josiah.<br>
<br>
Thank you, Melissa<br>
---------------------------------------------<br>
<br>
The next SGA planning meeting is this Friday (Oct. 19) at
3:30-5:00 (or as long as people can stay) in the Community Council
office. Here's an outline of the big issues that we are thinking
about:</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>
<ol style="margin-top:0in" start="1" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span
style="font-size: 11.0pt">The main body of the student
government is an all-student meeting called <b
style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal">Town Meeting.</b> Town
Meeting is the place for all-student discussions,
communication, connection between groups, feedback, and
decision-making.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ol>
</div>
<div>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span
style="font-size: 11.0pt">The meeting is open to all
students. There is no representational government; each
student has the opportunity to represent (and vote)
themselves.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span
style="font-size: 11.0pt">The Town Meeting is where
decision-making will take place.</span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span
class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; ">The most
important function of Town Meeting is to share information
and gather opinion. </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span
style="font-size:
11.0pt;background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow">We have not
developed a mechanism to deal with the issue of
under-representation.</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt">
With regard to voting, underrepresented populations continue
to hold a minority vote on issues pertaining to their
respective identities. It is not clear how this issue will
manifest itself, but alternatives that were proposed had the
potential to be tokenistic or otherwise problematic. This
issue should probably be discussed at the Town Meeting as we<span
style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>move forward.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>The meeting is open to all, I hope folks can attend to help us
think through all this!</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Josiah</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; ">-------------------------------------------------------------</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; ">Josiah S. Litant</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; ">Senior Associate Dean of Students</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; "><br>
</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; ">HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; ">Amherst, MA 01002</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; ">phone (413) 559-6666</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; ">fax (413) 559-5663<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
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<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Melissa Scheid Frantz <br>
Assistant Dean, <a
href="http://www.hampshire.edu/studentlife/communityadvocacy.htm">
Community Advocacy </a> / Director, <a
href="http://www.hampshire.edu/studentlife/MISS.htm">
Multicultural & International Student Services (MISS) </a>
<br>
<br>
Student Life | Hampshire College | 893 West St. | Amherst, MA
01002 tel: 413.559.5415 | fax: 413.559.6668
<br>
* If you are an international student with an emergency visa issue
that needs immediate assistance, please call the Hampshire
Dispatcher at 413.559.5424.
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