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CATALYST
BRIEFS WOMEN IN SCIENCE pg.
April 24, 2019 VOLUME XXXVIII ISSUE 10
New College of Florida's student newspaper
Paint[u] suggested to replace PCP were going to spend $5,000 on a finger paint party or something like that,” Jack Palm Court Parties (PCPs) have Brickhouse, Equipment Teaching Assisbeen a staple of New College since the tant (EQTA) since 2016 and thesis stuearly years of the school. These cam- dent, said. “I see this come up online, and pus-wide parties are, unlike most campus it’s both stupid, for a number of reasons, events, not substance-free and entirely and hurtful to me as an EQTA.” Paint Univerfunded by the New sity (Paint[u]) is one College Student of the campus parAlliance (NCSA). “Even if there isn’t ties that the business The NCSA, how- as many people Degy Dance is hired ever, is facing a to throw at collegtighter budget this showing up, [PCP] es and universities year, with the NC- is for the graduating across the country. SA’s budget dropstudents.” Paint[u] is a camping from $230,000 pus adaptation of to $150,000. Because of this, the NCSA was willing to the nightclub service GlowRage, which investigate potential alternatives to the offers “DJ’s, Lasers, Girls and PAINT,” traditional Graduation PCP, including according to its website. “I looked up videos and [their DJs] presenting a suggestion from the Office of Student Activities and Campus are on stage fucking around with fleshEngagement (SA[u]CE) to hold a sub- lights,” Brickhouse said. “I don’t want stance-free, paint-filled party in PCP’s this big, nasty dude waving a fleshlight around, especially when it’s costing so stead. “I heard from my friend that they much.”
The idea first entered New College through a promotional email sent to the SA[u]CE office. On Apr. 2, SA[u]CE approached the NCSA with the idea of holding a Paint[u] party. The most appealing aspect of the event was its affordability. “It was saving money by diversifying funds,” Tara Centeno, SA[u]CE director, said. “We were able to pull money from different budget areas. It wasn’t just going to be NCSA. It’s also a reallocation of the funds. Typically for PCP, $3,200 goes to security alone, and we were going to be able to drop security costs.” SA[u]CE’s active role in Paint[u] meant that the party would be able to receive some funding from the school, not just the NCSA. However, this would mean that the party would need to adhere to the rules of administration-run events, like being substance-free. After the $3,200 allocated for security costs,
pockets by Metz on [the residential] side of campus.”
pledged an investment of $567,300 to improve the facility over 10 years, but Stier said that most of that original money went to kitchen renovations and new equipment. Metz also paid for the recent furniture overhaul but involved students and housing staff in the decision-making process. “We involved NCSA from the very beginning to help with the furniture selection, just so we didn’t have any issues like other areas might have had,” Stier said. The new furniture was the first phase in planned renovations. Phase two, eight new benches outside Hamilton “Ham” Center, has also been completed. Phase three consists of replacing the golf-cart parking spot outside Ham Center with an outdoor grill and adding hanging lights on the trees for student events. Stier said that they would start working on phase three over the summer.
BY IZAYA GARRETT MILES
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Board of Trustees renew Metz’s contract until 2024
BY ANNA LYNN WINFREY On Feb. 26, the Board of Trustees formally renewed New College’s contract with Metz Culinary Management until June 30, 2024. Notable updates to the contract include the complete omission of the section on the Four Winds Café, potential price increases at the beginning of the 2020-21 academic year and a potential new catering supervisor position, which may lead to increased prices for students.
https://doc-0k-18-docs. googleusercontent.com/ docs/securesc/s7jurnmk912se8sp3mgg3hd8llrh0uos/obdpo7fpcdn719co01n4qb7
Points at Four Winds? Not Anymore Meal points will not be redeemable at the Four Winds Café anymore, which is slated to re-open in fall 2019. Senior Associate Dean of Student Affairs Mark Stier said that meal point expenditure at the Café could be added in 2024 when the contract lapses. “For the next five years it won’t be [an option],” Stier said. “Part of the benefits is that it will reduce any attempt to have larger food increases, because that money will be put back into the students’
Price Hikes? Not Yet Prices, which have not increased since 2016-2017, may rise by 5 percent in fall 2020. In the newest contract renegotiation, Metz may also add a catering supervisor position and make adjustments to meal plan rates. Re-elected New College Student Alliance (NCSA) President and second-year Steven Keshishian was involved in the draftings of the contract renewal. “I am not part of the fine details,” Keshishian said. “I went over it, I saw it, but it was a done deal when I got to it.” He advocated for lower prices, but noted that our bargaining power is much less than at other schools because of our smaller size. “I’m not happy with 5 percent,” Keshishian said. “I’m not happy with any percentage, but it makes sense.” Ongoing Renovations In the original contract, Metz
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API! not returning this year BY KATRINA CARLIN The All Power to the Imagination! (API!) Conference was described by co-founder and alumnus James Birmingham (‘06) as the longest running student-organized radical left conference in the United States. This spring marks the first time since 2008 that API! will not be returning to campus. API! was born out of a Conference Organizing tutorial in 2007, sponsored by Professor of Sociology Sarah Hernandez. Birmingham, along with Jackie Wang and Kotu Bajaj, created the tutorial after attending the National Conference on Organized Resistance (NCOR). Noting a lack of radically left conferences in the South, they decided to make something happen at New College. “I don’t think any of us thought this was going to be an annual thing,” Birmingham said in an email interview. “I wasn’t even really involved in organizing it the second year.” The first conference only had three organizers, who stuck with what Birmingham called a “more traditional” conference format than latter API! conferences did. The keynote speaker brought in by the organizers was Ashanti Alston, a former Black Panther member turned anarchist who used to write the Anarchist Panther zine. As API! grew, it began to attract a wide variety of interested presenters. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers came every year for 11 years. Earth First! presented a number of times, including facilitating a tree climbing workshop. Performance and workshops of all kinds abounded, from oyster cultivation to musical improvisation. API! represented the intersection of radical left organizers not just in the South but from around the world. Moreover, the conference had a huge effect on the students involved. “It was the only conference at
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8 dance & Parkinsons