The subject of the evening is apparel. At last week’s meeting someone brought up the fact that the “store-room” of WC shirts/hoodies is almost empty. Bob took action, coming to the meeting armed with samples and ideas. A sampling:
-Nulla dies sine linea, “never a day without a line.” My personal favorite (my preference, sadly, falls on deaf ears)
-“Comma sutra” cartoon
-“The Coe Word Trade Center: We’re Still Standing.” Deemed inappropriate.
-The classic swirling “WC” symbol with a Wittgenstein quotation
-Vasec nominates “Death to Carthage” in Latin, giving a bad name to Classics majors everywhere (ahem). Bob responds: “When you have your own writing center you can do that.”
-Fleeces are eliminated because they’re expensive (and lame).
-Despite my valiant effort, polo shirts (so cute! so retro! so business-chic!) are also overruled.
So many choices. We narrow it down to six options and a vote is taken. The breakdown (with commentary from Ezra):
Karate/kung fu thing: 25 votes (“that’s a lot”)
Baseball style: 15 (“a decent amount”)
WC tree: 3 (“not many”)
Multiple languages: 9 (“somewhat”)
Latin: 6 (“a smattering”)
Comma sutra: 20 (“we have two winners”)
The choice is now between the karate thing and comma sutra. A voting sheet is on the main desk – you have till break to make your voice heard.
Other business/news:
- WC alumni Tanner Curl and Emily Dussault are engaged, upping the statistics on WC marriage rates. Bob has been invited to officiate the wedding, which he will, “If scheduling allows.”
-There are fewer than three weeks of classes till break. So there’s that.
-Ezra is so loud.
-Re: the grocery list. Nothing will be purchased till after break. We have very limited funding, especially since this year our coffee business is “not running in the black.” Our yearly budget is about $750. So far this year we’ve gone through $500. People should pay for coffee unless they are getting/giving a conference or working a shift. Bob suggests “appointing someone as a badass,” but ventures that this might be petty.
-No meeting next Monday
-December 1st will be “film fest” night – Topics people will be showing their short films. We’re told that there will be puppets. Should be a hoot.
-Nina warns us all to back up our computers. Her big deal science presentation thing was lost, so the event is happening tomorrow at 4:00 in SH203.
-Also tomorrow: the creative writing seminar people are presenting their writing tomorrow in Kesler, also at 4:00. So, choose wisely. You should note that Nina is offering baked goods in exchange for attendance at her event. Keep that in mind.
Now some serious business:
-Some of Bob’s students will be coming in to pick up gift certificates. They need to sign a form in the back room before taking them.
-On Friday of this week FYS portfolios are due. Literally, a collective sigh. All FYSs are arriving at the same time. People working Friday from 12:00 on – don’t schedule any conferences. Come to work on time. We will be incredibly busy sorting. If you’re behind in hours, we could use some extra hands. Should be “wild and tense.”
-ORCHID FORMS.
1) Some people have zero entries. To retain your position in the writing center, you need to have recorded 25 conferences over the course of the year. That’s one conference/week (12-13 per semester). If you don’t meet this number, you’ll be fired. Seriously.
2) Conference summaries have been terrible. You need to provide detail and information. One sentence is inadequate. Be precise, present an accurate, thorough portrait of the conversation. What did you talk about specifically? What advice did you give? What types of ideas did you generate? The WAC program is heavily dependent on this data for maintaining funding and credibility. Record all conferences.
3) Do not be sarcastic or derogatory in your descriptions of students or professors. This is public information that can be accessed by students and instructors at any point. Consciousness of your tone and attitude is critical. Be professional.
