The Student Activist Union has drawn up a letter criticizing the Class of 2010's V-Card swiping gift. The Union is "demanding a better gift."
Here are some excerpts from the latest draft of the letter:
"The class of 2010 has recently decided to give the school V-cash machines to be installed on vending machines, so that we might all consume junk food in perpetuity, without resorting to ATM machines or our change purses. Glory be!"
"What is the point of investing so much money that could be put towards financial aid or updating classrooms (the chairs in Rocky anyone??) or increasing the Vassar’s energy efficiency or making more dining options (a mini grocery-store? Longer hours?) or paying our faculty and employees better (the 2/2 semester plan for teachers?)"
"Furthermore, it just does not make sense that we, the students (and the alumnae that match our gifts), should foot the bill for a renovation that will directly benefit corporations completely divorced from the Vassar Community."
"Let us tell the administration and the VSA that we are a student body that cares about more than our stomach pangs."
It's our understanding that the letter has yet to be finalized and sent to the VSA and Class of 2010 Council.
54 comments:
what?? this is so stupid. this gift rocks!!!
don't hate against 2010
ummm don't class gifts have budgets of, like, nothing? somehow i doubt that they could increase how much we pay teacher or increase financial aid.
and i don't think donating money to buy chairs in rocky is very interesting either. the point of class gifts isn't big changes, it's little changes that make students lives better.
only at vassar would people complain about being able to buy candy and soda. this would make getting food so much easier than using change.
i completely agree with the letter, not only are the things on those vending machines pretty unhealthy, but they are all made by large corporate companies, and the food/drinks are shipped all over the country from overseas, causing so much pollution. 2010 could come up with a better gift than that...
I thought the gift was kinda deflating. Where's our social conscience?
this argument is so stupid. welcome to the 21st century. everything comes from someplace else - your clothes, your food, your drink.
i'm all for sustainable, locally grown stuff in acdc and the retreat. but what about at 2am when people are hungry? we should have to go and cook rice instead of just buying chips? if they could put hudson valley apples into a vending machine, then i'm all for it. but if not, this will make it mad easier to buy something than digging for change.
i agree completely with this letter!
The gift sucks. Why do we need all this pre-packaged, waste of calories and resources crap to be even easier to use??
I think the gift maybe should have something to do with keeping UpC open 24/7.
wow, Vassar College students protesting against something completely insignificant and not worth our time... WHAT A CONCEPT!
man to bad they're nothing important like an election, or global warming or something that actually impacts lives that we can talk about...
shame on life for being SO uninteresting!
i agree with the previous poster. sometimes people complain without thinking about things completely.
are people suddenly gonna go run out and buy coke now that they can use their vcards? no. will these things even be on coke machine? not according to the committee member i talked to.
stop complaining about nothing.
I totally agree with this letter. Sure, it may be convenient to be able to use your v-card to buy late-night snackadge from the vending machines, but couldn't the money be used for something more useful? Besides, it's been my observation that a lot of people keep some form of snack in their rooms anyway. And you can still use the machines with cash, which most people around here also have most of the time.
The point about it mostly benefiting outside corporations is also very noteworthy. Putting v-card swipers on vending machines will result in nothing but an easy way for everyone's v-cash to flow straight off campus into the pockets of big snack-food companies. Perhaps it would be better for the community to save your v-cash for local stores and restaurants?
Maybe I'm totally wrong, but the class of 2010's gift doesn't seem to correspond whatsoever with the values most people would assign to Vassar students.
the 2/2 prof plan is god awful. there aren't enough classes at vassar as i is.
Oh yes, let's all hate on horrible corporations for doing horrible things. I'm as liberal as anyone. I support gay marriage, a woman's right to choose, campaign finance reform, federal aid for education and the arts... all of it. But one supposedly 'liberal' argument that drives me insane is that 'business' is synonymous with evil.
God forbid we allow consumers, the students, to choose where to spend their own vcash - at local places or getting a bag of chips. Corporations are not uniformly bad - not everyone is Killer Coke. It's not an argument against this gift to say "nestle sucks." People are buying from them anyway, it just makes people's lives easier.
And like people said earlier, local restaurants are not open at 2 in the morning. That's when there's demand for cheap, good snacks.
as far as supporting "big corporations" with this gift - it may be worthy to note that all of our vending machines are owned by Triple J Vending - a small family-owned business from Poughkeepsie. While large corporations may profit via the vending machine company itself, the more immediate benefits are going to a local business. http://triplejvending.com/
this letter makes great points. instead of helping us fill our bodies with crap and helping major corporations fill their pockets with our cash, the gift should go towards converting the bookstore space into a coffee shop or grocery store. this would benefit everyone on campus, not just those of us who are too lazy to carry change or who don't care about loading ourselves with sugar and hydrogenated oils.
5:23, what are you doing reading a gossip blog when you could be researching some really important things like the election or global warming?!?! omg get on cnn.com now, you might miss something!!
5:55-
What does the letter have to do with gay marriage and abortion rights? Who are you trying to impress?
"as far as supporting "big corporations" with this gift - it may be worthy to note that all of our vending machines are owned by Triple J Vending - a small family-owned business from Poughkeepsie. While large corporations may profit via the vending machine company itself, the more immediate benefits are going to a local business. http://triplejvending.com/"
EXACTLY!! This gift *does* help the community indirectly, AND makes student life better.
yeah, I'm still stuck on how stupid the senior class gift is...
"as far as supporting "big corporations" with this gift - it may be worthy to note that all of our vending machines are owned by Triple J Vending - a small family-owned business from Poughkeepsie. While large corporations may profit via the vending machine company itself, the more immediate benefits are going to a local business. http://triplejvending.com/"
SOUNDS GREAT! And I love HOT POCKETS
i totally rule for this gift if they put these nice weed vending machines they have in cali. otherwise i wonder what moron came up with it
People should stop being debbie downers and just enjoying the fucking gift, it's great
exactly how much money do you overly-ambitious fools think the class will raise? the gift is realistic and awesome, and i certainly hope they DO put it on the coke machines. if i want to support coke killing people, that's my issue.
im so tired of all this green hippy bs! jesus christ get over it! Thers vending machines this will jst let me buy shit and use the god damn vcash tht is so absolutely useless to me otherwise (unless im a laundry junkie) and it will appease me! FROM MY OWN CASH! cos thts wat vcash is my cash sent to my v-card account! so if i used my vcash cash or my cash cash it would make no difference COS ITS MY CASH! 2010 jst makes it so i dont have to carry around a bag of quarters or keep breakin 20s cos thts all the ATM will give u and trust me thts a big deal in my book!
As for corporations? Like the dude said its triplejvending plus watever they bought would b corporate made/bought anyway! buy a bike u buyin from a major manufacturer for cheaper, buy chairs for rocky same thing, short of simply buying materials and having us the students make wat we want they will have to spend the money benefitin some1 else!
Get over it... u dnt want coke? dont drink it! u dnt like corps? dont buy from them... but leave these ppl alone! they saw wat kids wanted n and they want to provide... bitchin and moaning like little brats doesnt do anythin but make us look like a bunch of total jackasses... spoilt and ridiculous jackasses at that...
consumer choice is a wonderful thing. if individuals have problems with "big scary corporations" then let them not buy the freakin' hershey bar. otherwise stfu and enjoy this practical gift
I completely agree with the SAU.
not every issue is about sustainability, kids.
and we should revisit someone's wise point that class gifts are not multi-million dollar investments. research how much it would cost to keep upcdc open 24/7, then propose it as a gift.
am i the only person who has ever wanted WATER in the middle of the night? it's really shitty when you're really thirsty and you realize you have zero cash and zero water left in your nalg...
just sayin'
11:01 is 100% correct. you can't buy a candy bar with a 20 dollar bill from the atm. and you shouldn't have to. not everything has to be a huge fight. i was sooo excited when i heard about this gift because it's so practical. so stop complaining!!
are v-cash swipers on the vending machines really gonna increase machine use that much?? i think you're just looking for something to complain about. its convenient. go plant some trees and get off the internet. you're wasting a lot of energy.
I'm with the SAU on this one -- I agree with 5:35's comment ("Maybe I'm totally wrong, but the class of 2010's gift doesn't seem to correspond whatsoever with the values most people would assign to Vassar students.") Couldn't we come up with something more creative?
WHY DON'T WE HAVE TUCK SHOPS INSTEAD, where we sell AFFORDABLE healthy and local foods? With card swipe machines everywhere.
maybe i'm alone on this, but local foods (i.e. apples and vegatables) are not the kind of snack that i want at night after the dc is closed. if i want to buy from companies, that's my choice. and this gift will make my life better.
I agree with the letter. While the sophomore class may not be able to raise enough money to buy something huge, it could at least buy something that promotes the type of world we want to live in.
As for concerns about sustainability being "hippy bullshit," (2.6 11:01pm)
WAKE UP
If we don't change the way the world emits CO2 QUICKLY we are going to face serious, most likely unadaptable, climate changes very soon.
no water left in my nalg!? woe is me!!! use a fountain you fool.
guys stop being ridiculous, this gift is AWESOME. No one carries change, so this makes student life much easier.
the SAU should stop being such killjoys. i'm so pumped to be able to use the vending machines without having to dig for spare change
people need to put their lives to better use.
honestly. i love the gift. and i can stand the chairs in rocky. the 2/2 plan sucks, cos we DON'T have enough classes as it is. i'm all for all round sustainable development, but in this era where i like convenience i love this gift as well.
SAU, get A life.
so your mommy can pay for the munchies food
awesome gift. SAU stop bitching. adding a different way to pay for candy and soda has won't change the amount of stuff vassar purchases by very much at all.
yo, one class donated a fucking tree. it's outside of cushing. it's tiny.
i'd much rather have something that directly influences my life here. shut up, whiney activists. no one cares.
I cannot wait until we can swipe for food!!
i think caly is hot. and the gift is decent too.
Vassar - wake up! Our decisions have an impact, especially the institutional ones! Environmental destruction, genocide, worker rights, and social justice are all connected! I'm not saying that every little piece of food is that loaded with meaning, but our class gift is a much bigger legacy than one piece of food. It's okay to buy a candy bar or a Coke. But let's think about whether we really want to subsidize this kind of spending for further generations. I say we demand better late night food options than this and a gift that isn't a step backward.
besides all the environmental reasons, is your laziness of finding a dollar bill worth $16,000!??
can you really not come up with a better use for so much money??
this is such a disappointment i can't believe how many idiots there are at vassar
- unimportant decisions? Damn no, not all people have thousands of dollars to spend on stupid v cash machines
there you go, then this decision is not so important after all. you could help someone improve their life with this money instead of getting fatter
- the comment about being thirsty in the middle of the night
are you fucking kidding me? fill your nalgene from the water fountains or a fucking sink
- i think there should be a panel with all the gift committee members answering our questions. right now it just seems that they're too quiet to come up with good logic
where's the wall on the facebook group for the gift?
are people too ashamed to show students' hatred of this idiotic idea?
its not 16,000 dollars, its 6,000... plus around another 2000 if they decide to install the stupid Vending Misers that reduce energy use by 46%/get some of you complaining idiots to STFU. Get your facts right.
6:14
why does it matter if it's 16 or 6? It's still a lot of money that is not worth the laziness of finding a dollar bill.
there's no limit to your selfishness
In response to 6:14, 5:39's facts are right. According to Caly in the Misc
"This year sophomores will attempt to break previous records for both the dollar amount and participation rate, aiming for 60 percent participation and $6,000.
“ an alum has been very generous in agreeing to match our efforts with a $10,000 contribution.”
6000 + 10, 000 is 16,000.
And I agree, that is a lot of money, and it should be put to a better cause. This gift is so lame. I'm sorry for 2010
oh my goodness, you people need to get over yourselves. awesome gift, if you don't like it shutup and stop complaining. no one will "remember" your class for giving this, it's not your legacy, it's just something that lots of people in the school will enjoy.
excellent gift.
such shame
I don't really care one way or another.
But it is true that a class gift gives a class a huge opportunity to do WHATEVER they want to make life on campus that much better.
And v-cash vending machines... clearly not going to improve campus as much as the opportunity is affording.
I'm sure that everyone posting here against the 2010's gift bought keys for 2009's shared bike program and reports all instances of personal lockings, and NEVER EVER USES AN UNLOCKED BIKE! Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. This gift will actually make life more convenient for students on campus, and honestly the furor this has stirred up demonstrates the alacrity of this student body to lather itself up about silly causes while all the while ignoring their own selfishness.
how fucking creepy is it that we now get emails from caitlin and brian that have our id numbers on it. if do not want to give money to this useless gift, a whiny email will not change my mind. can you take your name off the list somehow?
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