At its weekly meeting on Wednesday, the Graduate Student Council (GSC) swore in a new member and voted on the Rains Party Bill, which disbursed funding for the annual graduate student Halloween Party hosted at Rains House.
In a unanimous vote, the councillors swore in Latin American history Ph.D candidate Mateo Carrillo to represent the social sciences district. Carrillo was the default replacement for Caleb Smith ’18, who was elected last year but graduated, leaving the seat vacant over the summer.
“I’m looking forward to representing not only [the] humanities, which I think [are] really important in this school, but also families,” he said.
Carrillo said that, because he has a family himself, he is especially interested in pushing for reforms relating to graduate student families.
“I think that families are getting a little left behind in this school, actually getting segregated in one region,” he said.
After swearing in Carrillo, the Council then motioned to vote on the Rains Party Bill, which would provide funding for the annual Halloween party hosted at Rains House for graduate students. Because the Rains Party is not held by a voluntary student organization (VSO), Rains Housing must submit a bill to receive funding for the party, rather than having its funding approved with a vote at the beginning of the meeting like other VSOs. The bill passed, with 11 people voting in favor and with one abstention.
GSC Social Chair and literature Ph.D candidate Gabby Badica raised concerns about acquiring the courtesy cards granting significant others access to campus buildings. According to Amy Tarangelo, co-chair of the GSC and Ph.D candidate in cancer biology, significant others need their Stanford-affiliated partners with them in order to receive a card. However, the ID Card Office located in Tresidder Union is only opened for limited hours.
“[The ID Card Office] only opens weekdays, while the spouses are all presumably at work,” Tarangelo said. “This has become an issue where a lot of people can’t get their cards.”
GSC councillors tabled the issue with the intention of brainstorming at a future meeting in order to propose a solution to the ID Card Office.
The councillors also discussed a potential resolution commending TreeHouse, Coffee House (CoHo) and Ray’s Grill for their support of graduate student dining on campus. The resolution was proposed by microbiology and immunology Ph.D student and former GSC chair Terence Theisen, who said he appreciates great service at TreeHouse.
“I think that’s consistent across TreeHouse, CoHo and Ray’s, so I thought it would be nice to commend them for the wonderful experience they supply for graduate students,” he said.
However, after aeronautics and astronautics Ph.D student and GSC co-chair Yiqing Ding proposed adding The Axe and Palm to the list, Theisen rescinded his resolution, and it was not put to a vote.
Finally, Tarangelo reminded those present about the GSC graduate student mental health town hall on Wednesday, October 17 from 5-7 p.m. in the Havana Room of the Graduate Community Center next week.
Contact Clara Kieschnick at ckiesch ‘at’ stanford.edu.