Big Block of Cheese Day was by all accounts a success, especially when measured by the cheese.
By 6:30 p.m., the block of sage white cheddar cheese had been whittled down to a small cube, while senior ASWC President Nadim Damluji and senior ASWC Student Affairs Chair Jordan Clark sat happily in the ASWC office.
“It’s been great. That was a half-wheel of cheese,” said a proud Damluji.
Clark came up with the idea to have a day where anyone could come in and talk to their ASWC representatives. He based the concept off of the “West Wing” television show episodes in which the White House staff entertains proposals from special interest groups that normally don’t get attention. ASWC focused the day on making sure everyone could have their say.
“It’s kind of morphed into ‘let’s sit at the table and have a conversation,'” said Clark.
The duo hoped that it would provide a space for people to address a variety of issues already on their minds.
“We’ve had complaints raising from ‘GoPrint is really frustrating and I’ve already run through my money’ to ‘I want more school spirit’ to ‘the back page’ and ‘there’s not been enough female performers on campus.’ Like, any grievance you can air out here,” said Damluji.
Not all the interactions were complaints. Junior Ari Frink was one of the many students who stopped in to talk. He said he was readily supported by ASWC when seeking funds from ASWC on behalf of the Campus Climate Challenge.
“For PowerShift last year, ASWC threw down money for us to go to that conference; I just feel like the school has really helped out,” said Frink.
Damluji also used the event as an opportunity to gauge student knowledge of ASWC as part of his continuing efforts to improve communication and involvement in the student community.
“I have questions for you on some things,” Damluji said to Frink. “How much do you know about ASWC? To try to get money, do you know where to go to and stuff like that?”
“I think I know how to do it,” said Frink. “I should because I’m a budget rep. But at least I know people who know how to do it, and they’ve expressed that it’s not a difficult process. Maybe I don’t know a ton about the inner working, bylaws and stuff like that, but I get the sense that people working for it are doing a good job and have our best interests at heart.”
Clark was excited about the input he was getting on the various issues. ASWC has been reaching out to students in various ways, including tabling during lunch four days a week to solicit comments on campus life from students. Clark promised that the Student Affairs Committee will be hard at work addressing student concerns raised during the day.
“Big block of cheese: Success,” said Damluji.
