I think it is fair to say that, at this juncture, at least, ASCMC President Tammy Phan's tenure has been a failure.
Her campaign promises have been almost entirely unmet. (She gets, I would argue, a C for at least trying to solve the parking problem, but that doesn't seem to actually have been resolved.)
Nearly 275 days have passed since we were promised a CMC network akin to the Mudd network and a kitchen in Claremont Hall. We have gotten neither, just as many of us predicted. Given this lack of accountability, were I her, I would have resigned.
But there have been other, unpredicted failures as well: Thursday Night Club is all but neutered without any sense that we are getting our monies worth from our student government.
To add insult to injury, Phan receives quick a bit for her role as president. As The Claremont Port Side noted in a decent write up of a plan to roll back, the cost of $6690 to Phan for one semester is roughly $5 from each and every student at Claremont McKenna, including, those like me, who live off of it.
Frankly, I would much rather have a Subway sandwhich than a do-nothing executive. Or an overpriced beer. Or half a bottle of wine, etc., etc.
The Portside reports further:
Phan’s room and board, one semester of which is paid for by ASCMC, is worth $6690. The second semester of the ASCMC President’s room and board is currently paid for by CMC’s Dean of Students office. CMC Dean of Students Mary Spellman confirmed that her office matches ASCMC’s compensation of its President up to 50% of room and board. Compensation to the ASCMC President for the next school year, who would be subject to the pay cut if Santo’s amendment [of cutting future pay for ASCMC presidents] is enacted, would vary slightly based on that student’s choice of meal plan and housing.Jordan Santo, a soon-to-be lieutenant in our armed forces, is a patriot of the highest degree. He and I became friendly after I learned that he insisted on flying his flag from Wohlford Pod -- only to be told no by our rather shameful administration. But Santo has an eye for things political and hopes his proposal to put ASCMC president's salary in line with other colleges will pay dividends when voters go to to the polls.
The article neglected a very key thing that I made mention of in the comment section.
In the past, some ASCMC presidents have forgone the stipend for Room and Board. Indeed, that was the basis of the pledge that I made, that, were I president, I would have declined to take a penny from ASCMC. (Had I known that it works out to $5 per student, I suspect I would have ran on that platform: Hate me? Let me give you five bucks! Nothing seems to work like bribery...)
In rebuttal to the notion that public service ought to be public service, Ms. Phan remarks that she's just being compensated the value to which she would otherwise have gotten had she been an RA, which I think, is rather presumptuous. How does she know she would have been selected as an RA, anyways?
It also seems a bit odd, does it not, that the president of the student body, our chief public servant, makes out
quite well.
Still Santo's plan doesn't work retroactively, which given ASCMC's track record, is a shame, indeed.
