The ASPC Senate adjourned their last meeting of the semester Tuesday, having successfully pursued several of their individual agendas, as well as managing and acting on campus concerns as an often unified group.

In his speech at this semester’s commencement, ASPC President Richard Park ’00 outlined a specific senate agenda of increased volunteerism in the community and on campus and increased communication between the senate and students at large.

What surprised Park, along with the rest of the senate, was the role they had in administrative decisions.

Park has commented that the senate has had to create a decisive plan to ensure that student input is considered in such issues as the Smith Campus Center, the investigation into the cause of salmonella, and relations with the city.

Senior Representative Gabe London, a newcomer to senate, did not foresee this kind of involvement. "When we got here, with the Smith Campus Center, we had issues we really had to deal with. I didn’t expect the responsibility would fall on the senate," he said.

London, however, was impressed with the amount of influence senate was able to exert on the administration in order to ensure that there were changes made. "The administration has definitely responded to us. I think they’ve come along. A lot of them also saw that there were problems with the building," said London.

Though London is encouraged by what has been accomplished during his tenure on senate, he knows that there is work to be done on the new $18.2 million structure. "We’ve taken a lot steps towards doing things, but in the past couple of weeks there has been a fall off. I think we have a lot further to go."

Throughout the salmonella outbreak and its aftermath the senate was persistent in its pressure to both the administration and Aramark, using their offices to discover who was culpable and what could be done to prevent problems in the future. Many, in fact, simply demanded that a new food service provider be contracted.

Academic Commissioner Jake Oken-Berg ’01 attributes much of the administration’s impetus for investigation into the outbreak to senate’s making student concerns clear. "The student as a whole I saw as valuable. I think we kept the pressure on, with things such as Aramark. I think we did a good job of creating a forum," he said.

Oken-Berg and others have also been working to improve relations with Claremont, and in meetings with Mayor Karen Rosenthal has been assured that she and the city will work to find solutions to current conflicts, most notably noise complaints from residents shutting down campus parties.

"[Working with the city] is something that’s at the top of our list," he said. Rosenthal, however, has yet to return Oken-Berg’s phone calls or messages. Though he does not know what the outcome of the relationship will be, Oken-Berg believes dialogue with the outside community is necessary. "Either way, at least we’ll know where we stand," he said.

This year’s senate elections, held in September, also brought renewed complaints about the inefficient and ambiguous election guidelines. A senate effort, led mostly by Sports Commissioner Dan Silberstein ’00, enacted reforms to the guidelines that had been bumped from the senate’s agenda for at least two years.

Amidst the semester’s unforeseen difficulties, many commissioners have still had success in pursuing their individual agendas. Community Affairs Commissioner Janelle Lin ’00 has been extremely successful in engaging Pomona’s students in volunteerism in the surrounding community, as well as bringing opportunities to lend a hand to the campus itself.

Communications Commissioner Emeka Okereke ’00 has brought several ideas to push the senate closer into the digital world, most notably by establishing an online forum that where students can converse on campus issues, due to be completed by early next semester.

For his part, London is working to bring more speakers to campus, adding to the list, which already boasts of Richard Reeves and Senator Paul Wellstone. London thinks that perhaps a presidential candidate can be lured to Pomona. "This is a perfect place for a politician to visit. We’re trying to get Pomona on the map for campaign stops," he said.