college council minutes, 5/9/01

quote of the meeting: "I'm like Cher, I only sign my first name." -laddie peterson (JA rep)

joe (co-pres) began by stating the obvious - that this is the last CC meeting of the spring. good observation, joe. he described this condition as both "good" and "sad". the conclusion of the year also brings the publication of the CC annual report, copies of which will be available friday.

this being the last CC meeting of the year, sarah (co-pres) wanted to thanks the outgoing house reps to CC. she reminisced on the fun and exciting times, and especially thanked the super-CC-seniors, royce smith (co-op), ben thompson (bryant/woodbridge), ellen bognar (currier), and tim karpoff (hopkins). she also reminded CC that there is one more opportunity to see these fine individuals, and that is at the CC BBQ on sunday, starting at 4 pm. send them off in style!

the final restructuring forum for campus governance was held this past tuesday (5/8) night in goodrich living room. at that forum, it became clear that a more transparent, democratic, and fair procedure is required to address the imperfections in CC's constitutional amendment process that became evident during and immediately following CC's recent amendment to place minco representatives on the appointments committee. (yay, run-on sentences!). considering these factors, jp (treasurer) proposed a bylaw to generate an amendment supervisory committee (hereafter referred to as 'ASC') that would convene to facilitate the campus-wide consideration of amendments to the CC constitution.

this proposal ran into some problems when steve floyd (campus at-large) challenged a few of the limiting ideas, and further discussion was tabled until open time.

since no representatives from committee on undergraduate life (CUL) were present at the time discussion began, floyd escorted CC through a few of the main points in the new CUL proposal.

• CUL's initial proposal to reduce the housing groups from 7 to 4 is still being considered, and they are hoping to implement it somehow. kelsey peterson (student on CUL) arrived in time to explain that CUL's intent is to prevent large groups from "taking over" any particular house.
• expand the student activities office - the college must offer more support for people to throw events such as parties/concerts.
• B&G and security costs for all-campus events are unnecessary and often hidden. the college should pick up the slack on this.
• convert the upper floor of the log and half of mullen house (next to the log) into a kind of "office of student life/activities".
• tom mcevoy (director of housing) introduced an idea that is in the planning stages to create upperclass house leader positions. mcevoy, however, was quick to distinguish the proposed system from a RA system, and that the CUL in no way intends to infringe on williams' desire for self-governance. the house leader (perhaps to be named "house advisor") would not be a disciplinarian, but rather a trained and possibly paid leader who can facilitate and maintain a healthy relationship with the administration.

lastly, kelsey and mcevoy asked for CC's assistance in pushing some of these issues to fruition (where it sees fit, of course) and also assured that the CUL proposals should be read merely as suggestions as opposed to policies.

opinions this week consisted of the traditional email opinions that go to caroline (class of '02) as well as the opinions solicited during the opinions-unplugged project run by federico (class of '04). the e-mail opinions were handled just like any other week, and each opinion was assigned to someone, who should be responding to the opinion. in the interest of time, though, the unplugged opinions were simply read aloud.

• ATM transaction cost in baxter lounge is too high (federico)
• B&G billing - receipts for these expenditures should be given to the group treasurer (jp)
• WSO listserver policy - online policy for listservers should be updated and reviewed (joe)
• planned fire drills - this is a bad time during the academic year to be executing planned fire drills, and they take too long anyway. (caroline)
• the assignment of summer housing was a mess - tom mcevoy said that next year it will be assigned based on a lottery system.
• the DA should be available at grab 'n go (craig)

anyone who has a pulse has heard at least a little bit about the controversy surrounding the most recent issue of the mad cow. in particular, there has been an intense reaction to the article entitled "CC Adds 'Black Guy' Position" (p. 7) and the offensive departmental pick-up lines (p. 25). the publication of these articles has aroused many on-campus groups to speak out against the mad cow and to approach CC as a medium for the expression of their perspectives. sarah and joe prefaced the thorough, two-hour long discussion with a call for everyone to maintain mutual respect, as this is an issue that could easily get impassioned and heated.

one of the groups that has led the charge in the denunciation of the mad cow's articles is the black student union (BSU). rebecca fritz (co-coordinator of the BSU and my super-duper co-JA) began the discussion by enumerating exactly what her constituents found offensive in the publication. she added that in addition to fulfilling her duty to express the disapproval of her constituency, she was personally offended by the suggestions of the articles. the following are highlights to the general complaints to the recent mad cow issue:

• the minority voice is not equivalent to the black voice, as the mad cow assumes
• the 3/5 vote clause is harmful
• the improper English used by the minco president is very offensive
• the use of an actual students' name
• making light of heritage months is offensive

the mad cow, represented by josh ain, chris zerwas, seth brown, and art munson, then responded to the se concerns and issued their own statement. they apologized for the offense that some people took in response to the articles. they emphasized that it was never their intent to injure any particular group on campus, but rather that their intent was to use satire to poke fun at the dichotomy that exists between minority and majority representation. the satirical article, like all of their satire, was intended to be so absurd and ludicrous that no one could take it seriously.

the staff of the mad cow also said that they have apologized for mistakenly using an actual williams student's name. also, the different speaking styles of the characters was only meant to distinguish between characters in a short, comical piece rather than to suggest that minorities are incapable of speaking in proper English. the mad cow also offered that in the future, the magazine will print a disclaimer at the beginning of the magazine that will emphasize the audience of the mad cow's good-natured intent. the mad cow also said that in the future, they would be willing to present articles to a test audience to gauge their reaction before releasing their work to the campus at-large.

both parties having spoken their cases, CC members joined in the fray to determine what should be done, if anything, in response to the powerful student reaction. tracy borawski (tyler) wasted no time getting right to the heart of the issue, asking whether the mad cow would stop printing articles of this nature, regardless of the disclaimer. princess alegre said that the problem with the article is that it attacks what people are and makes them uncomfortable on this campus. several students would go on to express the discomfort they feel as a result of the publication of these articles.

evan sandhaus attempted to provide some direction to the discussion, asking the offended students present what they would like to see happen. it was agreed that there was not strong consensus on what course of action would be most appropriate, but that some type of recourse was necessary. evan also clearly stated, that for him, it would be a shame to see a group punished simply because we find what they say offensive.

royce smith (co-op), nick kerr (minco), and rory kramer (minco co-chair) then directed CC's attention to recent history of the mad cow. one article that ran into problems with CC before makes light of Vietnamese dietary habits. floyd said that it is important to keep the satirical intent (possibly satire of the Vietnamese war, in this case) in mind. rory, citing this history, said that the disclaimer will not change the way the mad cow writes. he called for CC to take a stronger course of action to ensure that it doesn't happen again.

medha kirtane (MCC staff) recognized that it was not the intent of the mad cow to cause harm, but that the byproduct was that it caused harm to the campus at-large regardless of intent. she continued by saying that a lot of this confusion arose out of ignorance, and that the mad cow MUST be more aware of the possible repercussions of their literature before they publish.

jason lucas spoke about how race and racism are not issues that should be joked about. they are not funny. his article in the record this past week was intended to turn racism around on the white majority. it was intended to make the white majority feel what he has felt all his life as a black man. he did not say that all whites are racist or prejudiced, but they are privileged. tempers flared, and several regrettable comments were made, but somehow cooler heads prevailed and discussion resumed.

several students tried to address the disturbing underlying issue at hand. suzanne wall spoke about how this points to race on campus. she called attention to the fact that there are a large number of minority students at a CC meeting - an anomaly to say the least.

CC members, at this juncture, tried to move toward some type of resolution. caroline messmer proposed that we publish a statement to encourage this type of dialogue in CC. in short, if any member of the williams student body feels strongly offended by any CC-sponsored group, they are encouraged to come to CC to express their disapproval. maja carr called for something more, challenging that this statement would only be a slap on the wrist. she also pointed out that she doesn't want her parents' hard-earned money (student activities tax) being spent on a publication that directly offends her and her people. that's not what she's here at williams for.

after that proposal was defeated, nick kerr proposed that CC revoke recognition to the mad cow, on the basis that williams students at-large funded the magazine, but that these same williams students at-large were deeply offended by the contents of the magazine. this proposal states that it is necessary for CC and all its groups to maintain a decent level of community standards, and the mad cow, in this publication, violated that level of decency, and should therefore not be recognized as a williams student group.

aamir wyne (SASA tri-coordinator) warned CC to be careful not to demonize the mad cow in the hopes that it will solve the greater issue of race on this campus. this type of blind hatred does not get us anywhere, does not solve any problems. john phillips (prospect) warned that he would not hesitate to just go out and pursue the destruction of all the groups he finds offensive if this proposal passes.

catherine denver (mills/thompson) said that we simply can't ignore the strong student response. we simply can't ignore the 40 students who showed up demanding a course of action (nice to see all of you at a CC meeting, by the way! come back soon!). also, she pointed out that this is not the be-all, end-all of the mad cow, and that if they are serious about publishing a humor magazine in the fall, they can return to CC to regain their recognition or find a different means for publication.

weighing all the opinions that were brought up in the more-than two-hour discussion on this issue, CC then voted on the proposal to revoke the mad cow's club recognition. the proposal passed by a vote of 13-11-1, and the mad cow lost its status as a CC club.

during open time, AASiA representatives ju kim and aamir wyne approached CC with a very disturbing situation. in response to a few distinct incidents of anti-Asian harassment, AASiA would like CC's support on a statement that they hope will increase awareness of anti-Asian hostility on this campus. the statement reads as follows:

In two separate incidents, one during the last week of April and one on the night of May 2, Williams students of Asian descent were verbally harassed by a group of teenagers who drove by them on Spring Street, yelling, "Give us back our plane!" In another incident this past weekend, an Asian student was accosted by a man near Jesup Hall who said "Nuke China!" to the student's face.

The April 1 EP-3 spy plane incident, in which an American reconnaissance plane was involved in a collision with a Chinese fighter and made an emergency landing on China's Hainan Island, has brought to light certain negative feelings toward people of Asian descent living in the United States. These emotions have manifested themselves here in Williamstown as incidents of anti-Asian harassment.

As a voice for Asian American students on campus, we at AASiA understand and sympathize with those in this country who are upset at the detention of the American crew and China's continued possession of the EP-3 spy plane. However, we reject any form of racially directed harassment, discrimination or violence and as such find the three incidents described above unconscionable and completely against the principles of diversity, community, mutual respect and understanding that are the cornerstones of AASiA's foundation. AASiA requests strong action from the Williams College administration, the town administration, and members of the Williamstown community to combat the forces of ignorance and intolerance that threaten to undermine the neighborly relationship that the College and Williamstown have shared for decades. We also ask for the aid of individuals in spreading the news of these incidents and generating awareness throughout the community in the hopes that such incidents may be prevented in the future.

CC voted to support AASiA's response statement, 25-0-0.

diego cob from students for social justice (SSJ) came before CC to request permission to use $350 of their remaining funds to publish an international justice journal ($250) and to throw a farewell to their seniors ($100). after a little discussion CC voted to allow SSJ to use the full amount, $350, by a vote of 20-2-2.

CC voted to recognize a figure skating club that would service all interested students, both recreational and competitive, 23-0-1.

floyd mentioned that the CEP proposal is up for voting by faculty soon, so this is your last chance to get out and express what you think to profs, who will be voting on potential curricular changes at williams.

at this point we returned to the bylaw to create an amendment supervisory committee (ASC). the text of the bylaw is as follows:

The Appointments Committee shall select the Amendment Supervisory Committee.

Composition

1. The ASC shall consist of 5 members, chosen by the Appointments Committee from the campus at large, via self-nominations.

2. No member of the ASC shall submit an amendment proposal.

Duties

1. When the council deems necessary by 2/3rds vote, the ASC shall be convened to solicit amendment proposals and feedback on those proposals from the student body at large over at least a two-week period.

2. When the council deems necessary by 2/3rds vote, the ASC shall run a Constitutional Convention to (a) consider these proposals and (b) to facilitate a selection process, not select a proposal, in which a group of proposal authors determines the final proposal by consensus, or, if necessary, a majority vote.

3. The ASC shall assume the publicity role of the College Council in this amendment process.

CC voted to implement this bylaw by a 23-0-0 vote.

THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR BEING HERE AT THIS EXTREMELY DRAINING BY EXTREMELY WORTHWHILE CC MEETING!!! HAVE A GREAT DAY!

craig tamamoto

CC secretary

will allen (campus at-large), fulton breen (armstrong), tim karpoff (mark hopkins), meg cooley (west/spencer)

many contentious viewpoints were brought up during the meeting, and I tried my best to represent as many opinions as I could, within reason. if you feel as though I have overlooked something or mistakenly represented something, please let me know at 02cat@williams.edu. good luck on finals, and have a great summer!