[introduction]

Todd Rogers (Co-President) announced that the Committee on Undergraduate Life would be holding off until next year to make their recommendation to reduce the size of housing groups. According to Tom McEvoy, “CUL is of the opinion that the campus and the overall planning initiative for student life will be better served if the ‘reduction in group size’ recommendation is postponed and made part of the more comprehensive report / recommendation on residential living that CUL will eventually make.”

The Election Supervisory Committee is gearing up to run the spring College Council elections. The campus will be choosing one representative for each class, two for MinCo, four at-large representatives, two co-presidents, a secretary, and a treasurer. Kristin Wikelius will be heading up the committee, along with Chris Koegel, Sharifa Wright, and Jacqueline Dinzey. (CC voted to approve these members 24-0-3.)

[failures of campus life]

Ami Parekh (Co-President) and Todd held a public forum on Tuesday in Goodrich concerning the failures of campus life. Todd explained: we’re in a unique situation now, when so much of the campus is being reviewed with the intention to change structures and policy to make Williams a better place. All of the existing Williams structures (like Housing Committee, College Council, SAC) have evolved individually, without any thought on how they should work together. Ami explained that most of the complaints about student life boil down to three large themes: [1] Social (events planning, social fragmentation), [2] Advocacy (for houses, minorities, and the campus at large), [3] Funding (too many places, too much hassle). Next Tuesday there will be a follow-up discussion on how to fix these problems in Goodrich at 5pm. (Free Pizza!)

[appeal]

Matt Haldeman, from the Lehman Community Service Council, requested that CC override a FinCom decision refusing a year-old voucher. Apparently, Lydia Haile knitted hats for the homeless last year, and was unable to be reimbursed for materials ($75) because the Lehman Council had gone over budget. (The main reason why Lehman went over budget, according to Haldeman, is because the Lehman van needed repair in the middle of the year, and B&G just billed that straight to the account). At any rate, Lehman has enough money this year to pay Haile back, and so they submitted a voucher for the amount earlier this year. Ryan Mayhew (Treasurer) explained that FinCom had denied the request because of the precedent it would set. Letting groups deficit spend while counting on future funds from College Council would be an irresponsible policy to set. Ryan also pointed out that Lehman hadn’t brought up the issue in a year – neither at the treasurers’ meetings nor in their budget request. Matt explained that he had no idea Lydia hadn’t been reimbursed until she told him during Winter Study. After Ryan verified that the $75 would come from Lehman’s own account, and not the General Fund, CC voted to accept the voucher 17-6-7.

[funding bonanza]

Before opening up the funding proposals, Ryan spoke a few words to council about the present budget situation. At the beginning of the meeting, CC had $23,355.42 in the General Fund, $2,750 in the Nationals Fund, $1,183 in the Intergroup Fund, and $12,719.40 in the Group Contingency Fund (for existing groups that got the shaft in the fall). The total requested funding for this meeting and the next will be at least $22,505 ($2,660 from the Group Contingency Fund, $11,262 from the General Fund, and $8,583 for SAC next week). Josh Burns, from SAC, explained that last year, SAC had spend over $110,000 on events ($12,000 over budget), and this year was limited to around $60,000 at the beginning of the year by FinCom. However, this allocation came with a suggestion that SAC could come back to CC to ask for more money if needed. Well, they need it – after G. Love and Bela Fleck, SAC will have no money in their account. So in order to run the Log Thursdays, Movies, and a Currier Club, CC will have to fund SAC for $8,583.17 more. This request should come next week.

Ryan warned council that if all of this funded goes through, in two weeks, CC will have $2,610 in the General Fund, and $10,059 in the Group Contingency Fund for the rest of the year. Rob pointed out that perhaps the funding in the Group Contingency Fund could be used to fund some of the events that might have been funded out of SAC or WCFM if they hadn’t had their budgets cut at the beginning of the year. Ryan acknowledged the point, but warned against trying to apply it to groups beyond SAC.

And now, on to the requests…

[group contingency fund requests]

Josh Ain, from the Mad Cow, requested $40 for publicity to bring new members to the Mad Cow, and to produce humorous posters throughout the year, so the Mad Cow is a constant presence, and not just a twice-a-year publication. Mayo Shattuck (Class of 2003) explained that, although $40 is a small amount of money, it will be used to expand the club, and the Group Contingency Fund should only be used to sustain groups. However, Joe Masters (Secretary) disagreed, pointing out that the acquisition of the Contingency Funds from the college were to bring College Council back to normal operation. CC will be receiving a similar amount of funding in the future from the College, and it must be able to help groups expand within its current budget. Council voted to approve the $40 27-1-1.

Stephanie Pirishis, from the Photo Club, presented her proposal for $1050 ($800 for a new Enlarger, $150 for a Safe Light, and $100 for Tanks and Reels) to improve the club’s equipment. Nishant Nayyar (At-Large Rep) asked how many students used the lab; he was under the impression that the club was defunct. Stephanie explained that most people who come to use the lab stop using it almost immediately because the equipment is really awful. After a request from Laddie Peterson (Class of 2002) to advertise the new equipment, CC voted to fund the full $1050: 25-2-3.

In the final request from the Contingency Fund, Heather Brubaker asked for $1,570 for the Dance Company (13 students x $90 fee = $1170 in registration fees for the American College Dance Festival Association and $400 for costumes). The treasurer for the club last year didn’t notify the group that they needed to submit a budget request this year, and so they were left out of the initial funding meetings in the fall. Ryan asked if the Dance Company was funded at all by the dance department. Heather replied that they will fund certain things, but not conference fees (although the department does pay for personal expenses during the conference). Todd voiced his concern that College Council co-funds certain groups with administrative departments; it allows the administration to pressure CC into taking over some of the administration’s funding responsibilities. Jonathan Pahl (Dodd) pointed out that CC should not harm the group because we have a problem with the funding setup. Nishant asked if the group could function without costumes (and if CC didn’t fund the costumes, wouldn’t the dance department step in and pay for them?) and proposed that we amend the budget to only fund 2/3rds of the conference fee ($60/person for 13 people = $780). Joe pointed out that in previous years, this group has received around $1500, and if they had made the treasurers’ meetings, they would have it now. The Contingency Fund exists for exactly this purpose. Shenil Saya (At-Large Rep) agreed, reminding CC that it funds sports teams to go across the country to compete. The amendment to the budget failed 9-17-2, and the full $1570 budget passed 22-3-4.

[general fund requests]

Daniel Sullivan and Michael Sheehan announced that Williams for Life will be sponsoring a Life Issues Awareness Week from February 25 – March 3, and requested $900 for Mildred Jefferson, M.D. (the first African-American woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School) to speak about being pro-life from an African-American perspective and the links between abortion and race-based eugenics. (Breakdown: $500 in speaker fees, $210 for room & board, $40 for gas, $50 for publicity for the lecture, and $100 for printing and publicity for the week). Caleb Fassett (Off-Campus) asked why there was so much money allocated for publicity. Daniel explained that they will be advertising for the many different issues covered during the week, including euthanasia, capital punishment, and population control. Tim Karpoff (Mark Hopkins) told Williams for Life that the campus mainly perceives them as a pro-life advocacy group, and not a group that handles all these various issues of life. He requested that they work on their image. Nishant proposed to amend the budget, cutting $100 in publicity and printing. Tim Patterson (Frosh Council) thought that $100 was too much of a cut, but CC approved the amendment 15-14-0, and the revised budget ($800) passed 22-5-1.

Josh Frankel, from Sol Ka Fé, requested $5,000 from College Council to help fund a Jurassic 5 concert this spring, on either the first or last weekend of April. Jurassic 5 is one of the best hip-hop bands with tremendous crossover appeal. Frankel predicted that the concert would be one of the most diverse on campus, with people from every clique and race at this non-alcoholic all-campus party. The concert will cost around $12,000, and Sol Ka Fé currently has $2400 in funded secured. WCFM will be paying for sound and lights and an opening act. In order to get more money, the group really needs to have a significant amount in their account. They have meetings set up with other administrative bodies on campus all throughout the next week. Ryan asked that if we do decide to fund the concert, that we do it provisionally, so if the concert does not come together without three weeks, then the money would come back to CC. Frankel agreed. Ari Kessler (Morgan/Lehman) asked why they couldn’t scrap the opening act and get WCFM to donate the money given to that act to the main concert instead. Frankel explained that the opening act would cost close to nothing; it’s a Williams grad named Atomus. Caleb asked that if we fund this, and we need to cut future requests, we should cut SAC.

Karpoff proposed that to make money for the concert, they charge around $5 per ticket to the concert; Stephanie suggested selling tickets to off-campus students and making it free for Williams students. Matt Wessler asked if College Council wanted groups to charge for events that are funded out of the Student Activities Tax; he had spoken to Todd about this before, and Todd expressed his distaste with the idea. He believes that, if every student is going to subsidize an event (through the tax), it is unreasonable to charge for the event, because not every student may be able to pay for additional cost. John Phillips (Prospect) questioned in whose interests CC would be acting when such a policy caused the budget to hit rock bottom. He then praised the entrepreneurship of Sol Ka Fé, and recommended that we fund the $5000. CC agreed, 26-2-2.

Pete Burnett had originally planned to ask for $900 from CC to help fund the SoCa Currier Club (aka Dancing at Dodd) on March 10, but SAC didn’t have enough money to fund $2500 they had promised to SoCa for the Steel Pan band, so the request had to be upped to $3400. Ari pointed out that Bela Fleck is coming the night before, and that CC shouldn’t fund two major concerts in one weekend. In response, Ami explained that SAC had really screwed up SoCa’s plans, both by not funding the band, and by scheduling Bela Fleck on the March 9 (SoCa had planned that weekend for this event about a year ago). After some questions about charging for Currier Club, Pete replied that they would charge the regular Currier Club prices for the event, and that the revenue would return to College Council (estimated revenue $1750). Shenil asked if SoCa could pay for some of this from its Heritage Month funds (about $2500 for SoCa), since it’s part of the Heritage Month.

Sarah Barger (JA Rep) told CC that this event last year was completely packed. Since SAC is having trouble filling up their Currier Clubs this year, CC could always choose to fund the SoCa Currier Club (a proven winner) and not give SAC the money they will request next week to put on another Currier Club. Council voted to fund the full $3400 17-6-7.

Terri AutryWilliams, from NBC, brought their first ever budget request to Council: $1912 ($100 DJ, $100 Music, $100 Tape Copying, $100 Radio, $412 Travel, $250 Year-End Show, $1200 uniforms, minus $400 in ticket sales). Ryan questioned the amount for travel; CC usually only funds 11 cents/mile. However, no one on NBC has a car, so they must rent at the college’s rate (34.5 cents/mile). John Phillips, surveying the immense damage we had already done to the General Fund, asked if someone else might be able to find something to fund – he’s tired of being the asshole. However, this request was followed by a recognition that the budget looked pretty reasonable. Ari asked why NBC isn’t in the dance department; apparently it takes quite some time for a group to be accepted there. Nishant asked if there was any way to increase revenue, and after Terri replied that they might be able to get another $200 from their end of the year show, proposed an amendment to reduce their budget by $200. That amendment failed 12-14-2, and the overall budget passed 24-1-1.

[goodrich alcohol policy]

Daniel Morales arrived from the Goodrich Committee to explain the new Fridays@Goodrich parties. On a trial basis, Goodrich will be funding a party every Friday night with a DJ and alcoholic and non-alcoholic mixed drinks. The thought is that both non-drinkers and drinkers will mix together and dance. There is a plan to limit the amount of alcohol each person can consume.

Nishant asked about other alcoholic events that request to be in Goodrich; Daniel responded that two have come in since Fridays@Goodrich were approved, and they’ve both been turned down. The committee is very sensitive to students who want to study Saturdays and Sundays in Goodrich. Sarah asked if there was any particular reason why it’s in Goodrich. Daniel replied that usually nothing is happening in Goodrich on Friday nights, so this is an attempt to jump-start that social scene.

Shenil questioned the need to have alcoholic drinks at the party – why won’t people come if there isn’t alcohol? Ami believes that without alcoholic, the parties would be a total failure, because she has seen an extremely similar event in Goodrich (a first-year party), except without alcohol, that attracted almost no one. Daniel pointed out that everyone is talking about the fragmentation problems on this campus – let’s do something about it.

[opinions]

Well, all of the opinions were about the CUL proposal – five for it, and fifty-five against it.

[open time]

Joe announced that he has been working on getting a “stutter ring” on student phones so that we know when we have voice mail by just picking up the phone, instead of having to dial in to the voice mail system. Hopefully it will be in place in two weeks.

Joe also brought up an issue that James Moorhead (Class of 2001) originally raised a couple weeks ago – changing the names of College Council positions (i.e. Class of 2001 Rep à 2001 Class President). Caleb believed that CC shouldn’t change the names, because if students need the name of a position as an incentive to run, then they’re running for the wrong reasons.

Meg Cooley (West/Spencer) said that a host for a party was called at 6am to clean up the house, and was appalled that the host would be held responsible for clean-up. However, that is the case; the host takes responsibility for everything concerning the party.

And finally, JP requested that council keep the momentum going for changing student governance. Ami and Todd’s forums are going to be helpful.

Joe Masters

CC Secretary

wso.williams.edu/cc