Minutes for meeting on 4/14/99

Intro by Bert Leatherman ‘00…Medha Kirtane ‘00 talked about the new basketball court; apparently turning it into an ice rink (as Owen Boger ’01 suggested) would not be good because the basketball court would break in half. Water expands, remember? Alumni could possibly donate bleachers, lights, fencing, according to conversations with alum Chris Bell ’98. She added that race forums will also occur next week in response to the recent Record debate…Nishant Nayyar ’02 discussed changing election bylaws.

The Safety Committee (Carrie Ryan ‘00 and Sheraz Choudary ‘00) discussed the establishment of new card-reader group, who will decide if new card-readers are necessary (cost-effective?)…in addition, Carrie confirmed the worst: all parking spaces are full, also noting that May 3 is the online registration start date for parking spaces.

CUL (June Yi ‘02) talked about review of the Honor Code, actions motivated by concerns that it is not taken seriously enough…discussions with Honor Committee led them to conclude that the Honor Code should not be signed on SELFREG next year. Students will be forced to physically sign a statement. The Honor Committee will visit freshmen entries and discuss Honor Code…Nelson Hioe ‘00 stated that many people (upperclassmen included) may be confused as to the exact rules governing the Honor Code…Carrie Ryan ‘00 noted that Honor Code must be signed in order to sign up for classes, causing students do so without thinking…Garren Bird ’99 insightfully proposed creating a web link that answers Frequently Asked Questions regarding Honor Code…

Funding passes for Senior Log Lunch 23-1-0 ($600)…

MINCO (Shenil Saya ’02) spoke about Muslim Student Union lunch (Saturday at Driscoll) E-mail 99ca…Asian American Awareness Month begins soon, with a concert given by an Asian pop star Thursday at Goodrich — 8:00p.m…ATP’s "The Wash" will be performed on Friday and Saturday…Queer Pride Days kick off on Saturday, lasting for 2 weeks. Queer Bash on 4/21; theme is Under the Sea…Possibility of having Queer Bash in Goodrich raised, but presence of alcohol could be a problem, says Ryan Mayhew ’01.

CLASS SIZE: Erin Troy ’01 asked for feedback on CC proposed response to the CEP Class Size Proposal. Major points: 1) class capping "rules" designated by profs should be made clearer. 2) Classes over 40 should not be capped. 3) Should be wary of toughening grading standards. 4) Hiring more faculty should not be adopted too rashly, since it is a long-term and costly decision to endow new positions. 5) Tailor classes to be more student-friendly (languages less literature-based?). 6) Student-review of departments. 7) Create more fellowships that would increase number of visiting, short-term professors. 8) Enrollment statistics on SELFREG. 9) Freshmen advising should be better, and not allow them to be "tracked" into low-enrollment classes. 10) Increase efforts to reduce class size for sophomores as well as freshmen. 11) Reject notion of core curriculum in order to reduce class size.

Medha ’00 stated that the trustees were concerned about the actual size of incoming classes (i.e. number of admitted freshmen every year). Amendment encouraging careful maintenance of incoming class size was passed 22-1-1.

Todd Rogers’ ‘01 amendment to push for increase sophomore advising was passed 21-4-1…Tim Karpoff ’01 raised the question of teacher quality if more visiting professors are brought in (point #7)…Heather Matthews ’02 responded by mentioning that this would be strictly for fresh Williams Ph.D’s, and not just any visiting prof…Garren Bird ’99 wondered if this would simply be a short-term plan or a long-term one…Nelson Hioe ’00 brought up the idea that the talent pool for explicitly 1-year positions is much smaller and probably of lesser quality than regular positions…Todd raised the concern that Williams is limiting itself by only selecting from Williams grads. Monisha Agrawal ’99 noted that new Williams Ph.D’s may be more energetic than ordinary profs. The motion was voted down by a count of 7-14-2…However, amendment proposing changing phrase to "preference" to Williams Ph.D.’s passes17-4-2….Nelson proposed that CC endorse an amendment equalizing grades across departments, referring to a study by Richard Sabot, Ph.D which pointed to a strong correlation between grades and student course choice. He noted that overcrowded courses tend to be in those departments that also grade higher, and that stiffer curves may help to redistribute majors…the proposal to equalize class averages across departments was defeated 10-14.

Matt Haldeman ’01 made a plug for Lehman Council Community Service Week April 19-26; Service Day is on 4/25. Friday night is the Sleepout in Baxter Lawn (8p.m.-8am.); Matt denied the allegation that he would sleep in the lounge if it rains while everyone else gets soaked…Students can raise money from sponsors and support the homeless.

Nishant spoke about five frosh reps getting together to draft a response to Frosh housing situation. All reps noted that their constituents were very disappointed at decision to eliminate common rooms in Mission. They were angry over the lateness of decision (after housing forms due) and confusion regarding group size. Primary argument was that reps feel that freshmen would rather live in large doubles in Brooks next year rather than live in common rooms with people they didn’t know…Owen Boger ’01 mentioned that this situation was forced upon the Housing Office by forces out of their control, such as the lack of people studying away…Lloyd Nimetz ’01 brought up idea that housing lottery should be pushed back, so as to reduce the time crunch imposed by people deciding to study away, etc…Garren seconded this idea, as well as questioning the role of CC in this issue…Nelson ‘00 wondered how the idea of "choice" applies to this situation, seeing as it’s either doubles in Brooks or common rooms in Mission, and frosh could have more options by allowing them to choose between rooms in Mission or doubles elsewhere…Todd Rogers ‘01 warned the seniors and upperclassmen of playing an overly paternal role in telling frosh what they want for themselves. Carrie Ryan ‘00 and Mark Acton ’00 argued that many students would actually enjoy living in Mission, and value the extra space.

After much debate, Lloyd Nimetz’ proposal to move back the lottery is passed 22-1-0.