College Council Rides Again!

May 6, 1998 http://wso.williams.edu/orgs/cc/

New Dining Policies Funding Battles Other Good Stuff

• Dining Services is revamping!!!!!

A facilities and food overhaul is in the works! Really, but in a few years . . .

More immediate matters include a proposal to give everyone $65 of snack bar points in lieu of dinner equivalency points. The CC shot this down, pointing out that this plan greatly reduces our flexibility to skip dinner and eat later. And lots of people eat more than $65 of dinner equivalency each semester. Also planned for next fall are staggered dining hall hours: eat dinner at 4:00 or 8:00! Dining Services may also offer a block plan where we only pay for the meals we eat and get a refund at the end of the semester. Unlikely, though. Medha Kirtane ’00 pointed out that guests ought to be able to use one of their host’s meals instead of paying. Jan Postma ’99 says people living on campus shouldn’t have to sign up for a minimum of 10 meals. Many thanks to Kevin Bolduc ’99 for his report. E-mail Kevin (99kmb) if you have feedback for the Dining Services Committee.

• Critical-skills classes arrive; hyphenation takes a back seat

Allen Wong ’00 (00aw) of the Committee on Educational Policy reported that a new series of non-remedial courses emphasizing methods over content is being implemented for the Class of 2002. The CEP also favors dispensing with hyphenation of courses, or at least making hyphenated courses less binding. As a result, individual departments must defer to the Committee on Academic Standing when a student asks to get out of a hyphenated course at the end of the semester.

• Save the Mac! Save the Mac! Save the Mac! Save the Mac! Save the Mac!

CC favorite Sheraz Choudhary ’00, representing the Committee on Information Technology, reported the dire news that there are rumblings about extending the Microsoft monopoly to Williams with a phase-out of Macintoshes. This seems a little shortsighted given Apple’s recent rebirth and its blazing-fast new processors. (OK, enough opportunistic politicking.) Anyway, don’t get too alarmed; nothing is definite. Just write to Sheraz (00sac) if you’re interested in preserving diversity on campus. Sheraz also reported that the students on the info-tech committee are tallying the 350 responses to their survey about satisfaction with computing services on campus. Look for the results on a to-be-announced Web page soon.

• Cha-ching — or not

The ever-successful cycling team cashed in tonight as the Council unanimously offered to pay for its trip to nationals as requested by Megan Lawson ’98 and Ben Stafford ‘98. Chris Fairbanks ’00 and WCFM gained $1500 to pay a summer business manager. A cappella groups were less fortunate. Thanks to the passionate argument of Sara Caswell ’00, the Ephlats and Good Question got reimbursed for mileage and gas for trips to make their CDs (22-0-0). But the Ephlats, the Streeters, and Ephoria got the shaft by a close vote (9-11-2). To offset their spring-break expenses, the three groups were seeking to divide evenly the leftover money set aside for campus music groups this year. The opposition on Council, realizing that the people who went on the trips paid $15-20 per day of their own money, claimed the troubadours didn’t need CC money to bring their net outlay down any further. Undaunted, Scott Case ’98 and Seb Arcebus ’99 vowed to return next week with a modified request.

• Watch what you say at Opinions Unplugged (CC live in the mailroom at lunch every Monday)

This militant heading refers to the guy who told the CC reps fielding opinions in the mailroom that the minutes are a waste of paper. I volunteered to take care of that opinion. The council got a load of suggestions on dining and computing and lots of support for open post-season NCAA play. There were plenty of other suggestions as well, which will be either passed on to appropriate committees or tackled by Council reps. Visit the College Council website (wso/cc) to read Jan Postma’s compilation of the feedback from Opinions Unplugged. And thanks to all who offered ideas!

• Opinions@wso

Liz Lee ’01 relayed suggestions to organize students to order texts from Amazon.com and bypass Water Street Books to save money. But when Sam Young ’98 pointed out that buy-back was an issue, the Council backed off what otherwise seemed a great idea. Another student implored the administration to establish a master calendar to avoid scheduling conflicts. CC will look into it.

• Committee Appointments

Despite the cries from a few Council members that the CC should strive for more variety in its appointments, the Council passed the recommendations of the Elections Committee (the at-large reps and co-president Kate Ervin ‘99). The approval of the appointments had been delayed until this week to give the Elections Committee some quiet time to consider whether it should recommend different candidates in place of students it originally recommended for several committees.

Co-presidents Will Slocum and Kate Ervin reported the progress of the NCAA Advocacy Committee, a 20-member group of CC folks, athletes, and non-athletes. A few members of the committee met with President Payne, who offered his help. Now the committee is drafting a statement urging the recall of the NESCAC presidents’ agreement to restrict post-season play. The statement, along with personal letters and phone calls, will go to newspapers, alumni, parents of athletes, trustees, and the student governments of other campuses. The committee will intensify its work in the fall.

Ever your faithful servant,

Bert Leatherman ’00

CC Secretary