So, to those of you who go to BC will probably agree with me that dealing with the red tape is a part of daily life when dealing with the administration.  I think I have figured out a clever way around it!

I have been hunting down a source of funding for NCUR that I can access, and frankly it seems that every one’s coffers are empty (the Scholarship Office has shut down all new scholarships until the Fall of 2010), that is all but the Brooklyn College Association!  Each semester a significant portion of each student’s technology fee goes directly to the BCA, and from there money is spread across the campus to a variety of small organizations.  When I joined the e-Board of The Brooklyn College Public Health Review last semester I heard that the BCA actually has a very large cache of money set aside for student traveling.  I don’t know how large it actually is, but I know it exists.  I have spent the past week and a half trying to hunt down this legendary pot of gold.  This quest came to a pause in Central Depository this afternoon, when I found that BCA funds are only accessible to clubs that are approved by the CLAS Student Government and/or the Academic Club Association.  Basically, I can’t touch it alone, or even with a small group–at least not without a bit of creativity.

Now, when some people come to a wide river they need to cross, they go right ahead and wade across, others will swim.  While I love to swim, I don’t like getting my clothes wet.  I have another philosophy (borrowed from the US Army Corps of Engineers)–build a bridge!  In short, in the final 4 months of my undergraduate career I am starting yet ANOTHER club, specifically modeled after our thesis class.  ‘The Pre-Professional Student Society’ (or whatever it will ultimately be named), will be a club open to all undergraduates working on some major research project, or looking for professional development by attending conferences in their respective fields.  I am literally putting this thing together in the next 24 to 48 hours.  I already have a good deal of backing from the administration, so I think this crazy idea may just work.  In short, if any of you need more funding for NCUR, or even just want another line on your resume, contact me ASAP.  I am getting signatures for the first ‘meeting’ of the club, I will have the constitution drafted later tonight (if anyone wants to see), and most importantly I need at least one other person who has completed Executive Training and is not a treasurer of another club  (at least not on paper).  My plan is to install myself as president of this club, unfortunately everyone else I know who has the training is in charge of funding for another club or organization that would cause a conflict of interest by signing up as treasurer for this one.  Basically, Roy, Jesse, and Milushka, are you interested, and do you have the training?

By the way, if anyone ever wants to hear a rant, ask me how the system of student activities and funding at Brooklyn College is very much like a feudal system.  The parallels are absolutely astounding!  I’m not criticizing any individuals in this, it’s just that as a whole, this machine is getting a little rusted and squeaky.

-Greg