In today’s issue of the Hartford Courant, there is a photo and caption about Trinity’s First Annual Campus Sustainability Day, held yesterday on the grassy knoll in front of Mather. Click here to see the picture and read about the event!
I had a meeting earlier this week with the Director of IT and he has promised that at least 50% of the dorms on campus will have wireless access by the time we get back from winter break in January. The rest will be done by the beginning of the 2009-2010 academic year. Just thought I’d share the exciting news!
Just wanted to remind everyone that the voter registration deadline for the state of Connecticut is Tuesday, October 21. For most other states, the deadline has already passed, so if you’re not registered, do so! You can pick up a form in the FACES Lounge (downstairs Mather) and fill it out and ConnPIRG’s New Voters Project will deliver it for you straight to the Registrar of Voters’ office.
I know there are many people eager for recycling bins in Jarvis, and I just wanted to let everyone know that the Facilities Department and the Recycling Task Force are working on it, but because Jarvis was being renovated over the summer, it was not included in the first order of bins that are currently being distributed. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to e-mail me at Krystal.Ramirez@trincoll.edu.
See John McCain and Barack Obama duke it out one final time! Free snacks and beverages will be served! Join the Public Policy & Law Department and ConnPIRG’s New Voters Project in the Washington Room at 8:30 PM! See you then!
Some people have been reporting trouble lately accessing wireless in the library. I have spoken at length with Bryan Adams, Director of Systems and Networking in the IT Department, about this, and here is what you should do if you encounter a problem:
Go down to the Computing Center Help Desk and report the incident. This is crucial, as it gives the technicians details so they may get more of an idea as to how to proceed. Be as specific as possible. Tell them where you were sitting when you couldn’t get access/lost access, and bring your computer with you so they can take a look at it. Even better, get one of the student workers to go with you to where the incident occurred and see if you can replicate the failure. For the most part, the situation seems to be happening to certain individuals rather than all users, so it could just be a matter of “certificates.” According to Adams, you need to “accept the certificate presented by the controller to manage the secure tunnel needed to use TrinAir.” In short, there’s no easy fix here until enough information has been gathered, but please know that it’s on the radar of the appropriate people.
Also, today at 8 PM an upgrade is going to be taking place that will cause the wireless access points in the library to “reload,” so just be aware of that. It may cause disruptions, or it may resolve some things. The ultimate take-away from this is that if you don’t file a complaint, there’s not a whole lot anyone can do…
If necessary, don’t hesitate to contact me via e-mail at Krystal.Ramirez@trincoll.edu or call me/send me a text at (281) 795-0880.
Christina Conti and I were interviewed about our views on the current campaigns, specifically John McCain’s choice of running mate, and we have quotes in an article titled, “To Liberal Female College Students, Palin No Feminist.” Read the article here and see what other CT undergrads had to say!
Here is what we hope to get accomplished by the end of the 2008-2009 academic year:
1. Wireless all over campus. Period.
2. A campus pub open by April
3. Improvements to the Chartwells dining service, including meal “rollover” and lowering the prices of items sold in Outakes, the Cave, and the Bistro
4. Upgrades to our dorms’ bathrooms and laundry facilities
5. Access to our dorms using our Personal Access Codes (PACs)
We are obviously working on a number of other things, but these will be our priorities. Visit our committee page to read about the other issues we are tackling.
The SGA has received numerous complaints from students about the lack of wireless access recently in the library, and we have, in fact, contacted the IT Department (we spoke with Bryan Adams, the Director of Systems and Networking) and they suggest that students open a help desk ticket whenever any incidents occur, because without them, there is no way to pinpoint the problem and resolve the issue. They have not noticed anything wrong with the system, and therefore need the specifics and details in order to be able to address any concerns. The phone number to call is 860-297-2007, or pay a visit to the Computing Center on Level B of the library.
Presidential candidates Obama v. McCain, Round 2
8:30 PM in the Washington Room! Free snacks and beverages!
Join the Public Policy & Law Department and ConnPIRG’s New Voters Project as we watch VP candidates Sarah Palin and Joe Biden duke it our during their debate. There will be free snacks as well as voter registration opportunities/information about requesting an absentee ballot. See you there (Washington Room @ 8:30 PM)!
Last night at the SGA’s full Senate body meeting a resolution was passed to spend around $200 on coffee and doughnuts to thank the Campus Safety and Facilities Departments for their help in relocating the Girl Talk concert last Friday. I didn’t vote for it. I also didn’t vote against it, mind you, because I do think these Trinity employees deserve some recognition and thanks – they have to deal with entitled brats all of the time, from cleaning up their vomit to putting up with their attitudes when they can’t get a ride across campus. So I am glad that this is happening in a sense, but I also don’t agree with the reasoning behind it. The whole messy situation could have been avoided if TCAC had been more organized. Why didn’t the leadership of this group have a back-up plan? I’m sorry, but I don’t have any sympathy for people who can’t get their s— together. Why isn’t this money coming out of their budget? They’re the ones who stressed a lot of people out without cause. It seems silly to me that they can get away with poor judgment and a lack of foresight with no repercussions.
***Disclaimer: I may not have all of the facts. If anyone wishes to comment, please do.
Author’s note (10/1/08): A Trinity alum e-mailed me today and said I should be more “mindful” in the future of what I write. He/she implied that the terminology “entitled brats” I used could be taken offensively. Here is basically what I replied — “I only speak the truth. There are many people that attend Trinity that I would call ‘entitled brats’ to their face. When you vomit on the bathroom floor or just leave your trash behind on the Quad with the idea in your head that you don’t have to clean up after yourself because someone else will do it for you, I feel like that is a sense of entitlement and it’s just plain brattiness. Period. I’m just being honest. That’s all. It’s not really meant to offend anyone. If the person reading this blog is not an entitled brat, they’ll know that comment is not directed towards them and not become defensive about it. I’d like to think people would agree with me that this kind of outlook on life is not one that should be praised and it also shouldn’t be denied. It exists.”
College Librarian Dick Ross just sent me this in an e-mail:
“Dear Krystal,
Update on 24 hour zone.
Access Control has not properly programmed the Library’s C floor for this evening.
Hopefully we will be able to open tomorrow September 25.”
Just thought I’d pass this along to everyone, because I know in an earlier post I had said the new 24-hour zone would be opening today, which is what I had been told. If there are any questions, feel free to contact me or Dr. Ross.
The SGA’s efforts to bring Zipcars to the Trinity campus made it into this week’s issue of the Hartford Advocate. Check it out!
Just wanted to let everyone know that I am currently looking into acquiring EnergyMisers for our school — essentially, they are devices that are attached to vending machines and they shut them down when not in use. I’m looking at different companies from which they are available, and I am also trying to contact Pepsi Co. to make sure there aren’t any conflicts that might come up in that regard. In any case, if you are reading this and have any suggestions for me, please let me know! Thanks!
