On Wednesday, March 6th, Dean Farrell and Dean Lantz convened the first of a series of meetings for a Committee on Student Norms to evaluate potential changes to the student handbook for the 2019-2020 academic year. Every year, the deans review the student handbook; this year they agreed that they wanted to consider possible policy changes to the handbook and needed student input on these possible changes.
Sarah Lantz, Dean of VWS, said, “We wanted to allow a lot of students to come forward and share their thoughts, for example: what is the trend with hair color, what do you think Webb should do? What do you think about technology use and earbud use on lower campus?”
The committee is discussing changes to the dress code. Specifically, they are deliberating policies regarding dyed hair and facial hair. Currently, students are not permitted to grow facial hair, nor are they allowed to dye their hair unnatural colors. The committee is also scheduled to discuss rules concerning evening labs, ordering from off-campus, the quality and variety of dining hall fare, tutoring, weekend permissions, and headphone use on lower campus.
Crucial to the committee’s success are a variety of different perspectives, backgrounds, and interests. The committee currently aims to achieve this diversity of opinions by allowing any student to be on the committee and letting them have a say on any issue, even those that only concern one part of the community (i.e., allowing borders to have cars).
Akira Hori (‘20) said, “Having a variety of perspectives better represents the student body, and provides the deans with a better image of the student body as a whole – even if the issue has to do with one group of people.”
Mo Igbaria (‘20) agrees and is hopeful that the conversations in the committee will lead to positive change at Webb. He said, “I think that the committee will lead to rule changes that are reflective of what the students want.”
All in all, the committee is a great way for the administration to reach out to students in order to ensure that the students have a say on important potential issues in the student handbook.
![Student researcher Elaine Tang (‘24) created a comic for the Fossil Fest to explain the two ways fossils are formed in a tarpit. “I chose to explain my research by comic because there are a lot of kids coming to the [Fossil] Fest,” Elaine said. “They are all very interested and even painted on my comic with their favorite colors.” Fossil Fest is one of the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology Discovery Day events during which scientists and museum visitors are invited to celebrate paleontology.](https://webbcanyonchronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/9eae070d6f5f12b684fd6d4ff457a01.jpg)
![Blue, white, and gold colored balloons surround the doorway to the new Bonnie Johnson Hall. Dr. Theresa Smith and Blake Johnson pose with large scissors, prepared to cut the ribbon as many faculty, alumni, and others watch and applaud. “I look at [the science lab] as a space where students are pursuing their own scientific questions, where they can collaborate with their other peers, and where discovery is happening,” said Lisa Nacionales, Science Department Chair.](https://webbcanyonchronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Smith_and_Johnson.HEIC.jpg)
