ASCMC Dorm Affairs Chair Resigns

By | September 17, 2012 at 4:13 pm | ASCMC News, News | 13 comments | |

 

Last night, Alexandra Cooke ’14 resigned from the ASCMC Board of Directors, known informally as the ASCMC Executive Board. Cooke was elected Dormitory Affairs Council Chair (DAC) this past spring.

Cooke provided the following statement to the Forum: ”It is best for me personally and for the school as a whole if I step down from my position as DAC.”

ASCMC President Aditya Pai ’13 stated, “Alexandra was a tremendous asset to ASCMC and we are sad to see her go. But ASCMC’s work must go on, and we’re eager to welcome a new DAC along with a new Freshman Class President to our team.”

According to the ASCMC Constitution, available online, it is the responsibility of the Dormitory Affairs Council Chair to “administer and supervise all ASCMC matters relating to dormitory activities.” The DAC oversees the Dormitory Affairs Council, which is comprised of the Dorm Presidents. It is the job of the DAC to plan each week’s Thursday Night Club (TNC).

ASCMC will hold a special election to replace the DAC on October 2, 2012. The new DAC will be sworn in on October 7, 2012.

This year would have marked Cooke’s third year on the ASCMC Board. She previously served as Executive Secretary and subsequently as Student Life Council Chair.

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Caroline Mimbs Nyce

Caroline Mimbs Nyce is Editor-in-Chief of the Forum. She's a senior and a dual major in Philosophy, Politics, & Economics (PPE) and Government. At any given moment, she is probably doing one of two things: a. longboarding aimlessly around the city of Claremont or b. refreshing the Forum homepage neurotically. Follow her @mimbsy.

 
 
 
 
  • Moe

    You will be missed ACooke! Good luck with everything :-)

  • Speculator

    Are we really going to do this again? Another ASCMC event on which the Forum half-asses the coverage.

    Just like ASCMC didn’t put out a statement when one of its Board members punched a girl in the face two years ago. Just like last year and the year before when ASCMC posted huge losses on AN21 and LMFAO and the Forum was late and soft with the coverage. Just like last year when everyone was giving Heath so much shit for not writing anything even remotely negative about ASCMC, promising that this year would be different…

    Put your money where your mouth is, Nyce.

    Look, we’re not stupid. You’re not fooling anyone. This school is 1,200 people and everyone is going to know everything sooner or later. So just give us some answers now. Why did Cooke resign? Was it personal or professional? Why did the Forum wait 24 hours to break the story? We all know Caroline Nyce was at that Board meeting, and everyone knows she likes the Forum to be first to a story. But it wasn’t: Pai’s email hit the student body first, and then the Forum broke the news just MINUTES later. The article must have already been “researched” and written (it included quotes from both Cooke and Pai). Clearly, the Forum was sitting on it, waiting for the go-ahead.

    Why?

    Why not report the story the night before? Was it because the Board wanted to get their ducks in row before letting the students know? Pai’s email indicated that Cooke’s old DAC position would be filled in a special election, along with the Executive Secretary position currently held by Stephanie Haft. But wait, Haft is still there, isn’t she? I didn’t hear that she resigned; the Forum article said nothing of Haft’s movement. Is she stepping down too, following Cooke? If so, why? Or is she getting transfered? A hand-picked candidate for the newly open DAC position? A little in-house shuffling going on? Maybe that’s not true, I can’t say for sure. All I’m saying is that it’s a little odd that two ASCMC positions open up simultaneously and only one gets reported on; my guess is the second one was a reaction of some kind. Where’s that story? After all the talk, where’s the Forum’s not-afraid-of-ASCMC attitude now? Is ASCMC pulling the reins too tight on Nyce? Hanging ASCMC’s ownership of the Forum over her head? threatening her budget? Her job?

    I’ve noticed over the past few years that ASCMC is very, very good at a lot of things. To all it’s officers, I commend you on the great services you provide for your peers. The one thing, however, that ASCMC is notoriously bad at is taking criticism, owning up and admitting when things aren’t going according to plan.

    So come on, ASCMC, don’t be afraid to show a little skin. We’re all human, mistakes will be made and feelings will get hurt, drama will ensue. It’s only student government, but it’s still politics. Help yourselves out and just be real with us. All we want is a little transparency, a few details here and there, some explanations and updates about how things are going within ASCMC, with the administration and a reminder that you’ve got the student body’s best interest at heart.

    Oh, and please let your newspaper do it’s damn job.

    • alum

      If it’s personal, then you don’t have a right to know other people’s personal business. ASCMC is not your “government” and these people are not politicians. They are college students who are afforded privacy and a future just like you.

      • Speculator

        I wholeheartedly agree. I apologize if my previous comment suggests otherwise. I suppose the other “coincidences” (article delay/timing, another position opening, etc.) are causing me to speculate that personal reasons are not the story here. As soon as I hear the reasoning for the decision was a private matter I will inquire no further.

      • Edward Gorey

        I pay the mandatory ASCMC fee of $122.50 per semester. No, its student members are not politicians (not in ‘that’ sense), but ASCMC is my school government. I don’t think the organization is malevolently untransparent, but its marriage with the Forum renders the newspaper useless as an outlet for intra-institutional criticism. Which is not to say that, in this particular case, we need such investigation if such matters are personal for Ms. Cooke — I wish her the best regardless. But Speculator posted what I believed to be a fairly level-headed, impersonal argument whose good points are worth discussing.

    • Moe

      Hey.
      I am the SLC, and so I am part of the board.
      I am glad that you are voicing your concerns, something I think everyone should do.
      What I first want to note is that Stephanie Haft was meant to only be executive secretary for the remainder of last year because the board decided to change the position to be one that was chosen in the fall as opposed to spring, giving freshmen a better to chance to get on the board. Steph is now one of the presidential advisors. Note that this information was public knowledge last year and it wasn’t some shady way of making Steph DAC.
      I just wanted to note that if you’re going to write an angry message about ASCMC, please get all your facts straight. But still, as I mentioned before, thank you for your critcism. When you say that ASCMC is bad at taking criticism, I honestly have to say that you are wrong (or at least wrong about most of the people on it). We are all college students trying to do our best to provide all of you with a better experience at college, and it is inevitable that at times we are going to fail; everyone is bound to fail. I can tell you that I failed last week (or not necessary failed, but did not succeed as much as I would have). I held the first hub quiz of the year, and only 6 people showed up. That’s not even two teams.
      I took that opportunity as a reminder to step it up – it was a form of indirect criticism that I had to publicize the event more and make it more exciting. That is why I’ve already taken initiative to provide entertainment at the next hub quiz in the form of an accapella group, and to also utilize facebook and other means of publicity to get word around this SLC tradition.
      This is one of the many examples of how we take criticism, or at least how I take criticism. All we discuss every meeting is how to make things better, how to increase attendance at different events like Hub Quiz and TNC. If you really want to see changes , come to one of our meetings, we have open forum in which you can come and listen in, and possibly voice some of your concerns IN PERSON.
      Anyways, that’s all I have to say right now.
      I hope you get the chance to read my reply.

      Yours truly,
      Moe

    • Speculator

      P.S. I pooped in the lounge of 7th floor Stark

  • Dear Speculator

    From what I hear Pai wanted to make sure the story didn’t go out well after the article was written and tried to keep the Forum from publishing it. It was ONLY because Caroline said she would run the story regardless that Pai made sure the email went out ASAP.

    I’m going to guess that if it was up to Pai there would be no story up at all. Yes the Forum is funded by ASCMC, but despite that I think it’s pretty commendable that she would put her job on the line to get the story out there, with the details she can give while still respecting ACooke’s privacy.

  • He’s BAAACK

    Charles Johnson everybody. Thank you Charles….

  • http://www.facebook.com/AngeloSumile Angelo Liao

    So sad to see @Alexandra Cooke go!

  • Kelsey

    Guys, sometimes there simply isn’t much to report. I know, it’s kind of crazy to think that not everything is one big conspiracy, but I think that this might just be a simple matter of Alexandra choosing to resign from her ASCMC duties for all the reasons most people ever leave a position (being too busy with schoolwork and a job, having matters in their personal that need to be attended to, etc.).

    Secondly, you guys are right, it is an inherent flaw of the Forum’s to be technically under the ownership of ASCMC. Caroline, being the journalistic crusader that she is, would be the first to point that out. But first of all, if you want the inside scoop on what’s up with ASCMC, don’t you think it’s more beneficial to have a source from within ASCMC? Little info is better than no info. But it all comes down to the fact that no one else is dying to fund our school’s student newspaper. So if you’re really that upset about this flaw in the Forum’s coverage, then put your money where your mouth is and buy the damn thing.

  • cmcer

    WE LOVE YOU ACOOKE! This is terrible news. Hope everything is okay, and know that we will all miss having you as our DAC

  • Jack Oliephant

    Evan Otis for DAC.