Current Status of The Bunnell Project

As many of you know Alex and I met with Student Government council members a few weeks ago to discuss the possibility of funding the Bunnell Cafe project. While we haven't heard anything official from the council we have heard from other sources that they are, for now at least, passing on the project.

While we are disappointed in their decision, we know that our project is ambitious and understand why some might be wary at this time. We hope the council changes its mind, if not now then perhaps next year with a new council.

In the meantime I had a fantastic conversation with Susan Thackeray that has reinvigorated me for this project. Susan is the director of Career and Technical Education and she is excited to use our project as a way for students to get hands-on experience. Construction management, culinary arts, business....all of these students could benefit from such an interdisciplinary project.

I am hoping that this minor setback will actually give us more time to come up with the best game plan. And I am confident that we can make this little dream a reality.

Presentation with student Government

Alex and I got a chance to lay out our proposal to the folks in student government this afternoon. I think it went really well. Click the link below and you can have your own version of the presentation we gave them:

Bunnell Presentation

We haven't heard back from them yet...but when we do we will keep you informed.

Our meeting with Bill

Alex and I got a chance to sit down with UVSC president Bill Sederburg this afternoon and talk to him about The Bunnell Cafe. He is a busy guy (what with the legislature in session and all) but he still managed to make time for a couple of dreamers.

And best of all he was very supportive of the idea and gave us some great advice for how to go about making it happen. Of course he also hit us with a heavy dose of reality. The project is going to be rather expensive, and there are some on the campus who really covet the land the house is sitting on. We don't blame them...the location is perfect. He wants to see some more concrete plans of how the Cafe will function, and he would like to see it get some more support from the VP level.

But basically Bill said anything is possible with the right funding. It was very encouraging. Next stop is a meeting with student government on February 7th.

Status of the petition

We had a good showing of support today for our first petition table. Big thanks to Joey for helping out. And Michael Morrow gets the big award for snagging the most signatures. We are still well short of our goal of 2400, so chances are you will see us out in the halls harassing folks for the rest of the month. If you are one of the brave few that have pages of signatures make sure and get them to Vegor, Alex, Travis, or Joey soon.

We have a presentation with the student fee committee scheduled tentatively for Feb. 7th. When we have more details we will let you know the particulars because we sure could use the support.

Our meeting with Bill Sederburg has been postponed till next Thursday. We will let you know how that goes.

Meeting with Kris Coles

Travis and I met with Kris Coles, UVSC student body president, this afternoon and he seems quite receptive to the idea of The Bunnell Cafe. We discussed some various funding issues. We are hoping to put together the money needed to pay for a comprehensive architectural/engineering survey. If we can get a solid figure on what the remodel will cost than we can decide how (or if) to move forward. Kris will be speaking with his executive council after the holiday weekend.