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CATALYST
BRIEFS GILETS JAUNES pg.
february 13, 2019 VOLUME XXXVIII ISSUE I
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New College of Florida's student-run newspaper
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After 23 years of operation, Four Winds Cafe closes for Spring term BY NOAH BASLAW For the first time since it was created in 1996, the Four Winds Café has closed for the spring term of 2019, resulting in troubling effects for Four Winds staff and management as well as the greater campus community. Kaelyn Hartley, thesis student and assistant manager of the Four Winds Café, said that the closure was abrupt and at an inopportune time during the year. “I work this job because I like it, but also because I have to,” Hartley said. “I currently have two jobs, and I have another when I go back home to Jacksonville. It is really pivotal for me to work at the Four Winds because it is how I pay my rent, bills and buy groceries.” Despite working two jobs, Hartley depended on the New College food pantry from month to month. “So when I found out that the Four Winds closure was something that was actually happening, not just a rumor—
photo courtesy of Four Winds
Four Winds employees Lili Benitez, Amaranth Grace, Sydney Clingo, Andreina Carrasquero, Devin Johnson Hogan, Lorraine Cruz, Rebecca Caccavo, Briana Baumgarten, Angel Reyes, Ben Cook, Hanah Chaudhry, Alba Abrams and Elizabeth White (left to right) posed at a staff meeting.
that we were all out of a job within a week and we [the managers] had to inform our staff—it was a big blow,” Hartley said. “I had some money saved up, but I had just been traveling for thesis research.” The timing of this loss of employ-
ment was poor for anyone, let alone a thesising student. “My parents are also not in a place to help me out with expenses, so it’s really worrisome,” Hartley said. “I have been having many conversations with my mom
have to pay the Contra fee, in addition to the Administrative Overhead fee, with the reserve funds, which are already depleted at $62,000. According to Ernst, the reserves are never supposed to dip under $100,000 but the current administration inherited an already depleted reserve fund from the previous administration. According to Ernst, the budget the current administration inherited was $249,490.19, but the actual amount of money was closer to $170,000. Due to these budget strains, with less funding and more fees, Ernst began instating caps on the budget at the beginning of the school year and was able to bring the budget down to $178,057.84. One of these budget restrictions was the $9,000 allotted for food at commencement. Ernst thought there may be a way the NCSA would not have to pay that anymore. However, when she brought it up to Vice President for Finance and Administration John Martin, he suggested the NCSA cut Graduation PCP and put that money toward the $9,000 and the school would cover the rest. According to Ernst, Martin assumed few students actually attended Gradua-
tion PCP. Ernst, who felt cancelling the end-of-the-year party would be a bad decision, sent out a poll to students in November in hopes that she could show Martin and President Donal O’Shea how students felt. One question in the poll asked students if they had attended a Graduation PCP. Out of 118 students who answered the question, 78 percent indicated yes. A second question asked students if they had attended a graduation ceremony at New College before. Out of 118 responses, 72.9 percent indicated yes. “I was like, ‘Well, it’s the students’ money and the students’ event, so I’m going to ask them and then I’m going to go to [Martin] and show him what their opinion was,” Ernst said. After sending out the poll, Ernst met with O’Shea to discuss the issue. According to Ernst, O’Shea “mentioned that he does want Graduation PCP to happen, and he doesn’t want the food to be at the cost of PCP.” When asked in an email interview what his response was when Ernst approached him about the funding issue, O’Shea wrote, “I thought this was a Hobbesian choice and there had to be another
asking, ‘Will I have to take the semester off and graduate late because of this?’” Hartley mentioned that she was not the only one in such a tight spot, now that the Four Winds was no longer employing anyone. The managerial positions held by Hartley, third-year Briana Baumgarten and head manager of the Four Winds Lorraine Cruz (‘14) all earned a large part of their income from the Café and needed it to pay their regular bills. Many other staff members also sourced most of their income from the Four Winds, according to the assistant managers. On top of being a thesis student, the manager positions are tough because among other duties, they take up the slack where and when needed. “Finals week comes along and staff request time off, no one takes up the shift and the managers have to fill in,” Hartley recalled.
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Graduation PCP funding issue resolved BY CASSIE MANZ
https://doc-0k-18-docs. googleusercontent.com/ docs/securesc/s7jurnmk912se8sp3mgg3hd8llrh0uos/obdpo7fpcdn719co01n4qb7
In November, it looked as if students were tasked with the choice of funding the Graduation Palm Court Party (PCP) or food at this year’s commencement ceremony. However, according to Vice President of Relations and Financial Affairs (VPRFA) Eva Ernst, the issue has been resolved. “They’re both going to happen,” Ernst said. The issues the New College Student Alliance (NCSA) budget has been facing stemmed from unexpected low enrollment this academic year. As previously reported by the Catalyst, this year’s class size of 222 students was the lowest in eight years. Enrollment is directly related to the NCSA budget, as 7.4 percent of students’ tuition per credit hour, for Florida residents, goes to the Activity and Service (A&S) fee, which helps fund the NCSA budget. With less students enrolled, there is less tuition being paid, and therefore less A&S fees being collected. In addition, the college recently started charging the student government with a Contra fee, which essentially accounts for the money the school loses when it waives tuition. The NCSA will
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way of resolving the funding dilemma.” When asked if he agreed with Ernst’s comment that he wanted Graduation PCP to happen, and did not want food to be at the expense of the PCP, O’Shea responded that food after the ceremony is important to graduates and their families and other students. He noted that some graduates go out with family after commencement and others “hang around for one last night on campus before leaving.” “All this said, I think that student fees should be used in a way that benefits the maximum number of students, so if I had to choose between the events, I would go with the food after graduation (because virtually every student who attends graduation uses it) over the COUP (which serves a relatively small subset of the students who attend graduation),” O’Shea said. According to Ernst, O’Shea “absolutely was very clear that he wanted it to happen” in their meeting before winter break. With administrative support, the only roadblock was finding a
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