• House Listservers — house-l@wso.williams.edu is your house’s listserver (gladden-l@wso.williams.edu, for example). Watch for CC updates from your house rep over your house listserver.

• Student Group Budgets — This weekend the College Council’s finance committee will work with group treasurers to propose how to distribute the student activities tax. The CC will review the committee’s recommendations and authorize the budget allocations next Wednesday.

• New Campus Music Magazine — Subbacultcha was recognized and is eligible to ask for funding next week. Thanks to John Morrison ’01 and cronies for the great effort on the magazine. Look for an online preview soon. The group was recognized by a unanimous vote.

• Irish Culture Club — Dan Sullivan ’01 invites folks to join him and "enjoy all things Irish." There are already 25 students interested. When asked if he’ll be sponsoring wild parties in the Irish tradition, Dan said the new group hopes to dispel the revelry stereotype. The group was recognized by a vote of 16 to 4.

• Voter Info Service — Porter McConnell ’00 and John Wiedower ’00 are starting a service to help students register to vote. After signing up, students will get an unbiased info packet on the candidates in their district. The service was viewed as a great idea and was recognized by a vote of 16 to 1. Council went on to discuss funding the new service. Jan Postma ’99 objected to the $50 administrative fee that Porter and John requested to use to contact special-interest groups, as well as county clerks and political parties. John Finkbeiner ’00 stood up for including supplements from special-interest groups in the packets the voter info service plans to distribute. Liz Lee’ 01 moved to cut back on supplies by $50, and her motion passed. Council passed the whole budget — $300 — with one dissention. Write 00jfw or 00mpm if you’d like to get involved or get registered to vote. Also watch for tabling in Baxter.

• Psalm 96 — A group that sponsors upbeat Christian worship services every two or three weeks came to Council to ask for $1835 for a sound system. John Finkbeiner ’00 suggested that Psalm 96 use the A/V equipment in Goodrich, but Nat Roland ’99 mentioned that having a praise service in a public spot on Friday night might make some passers-by uncomfortable. Owen Boger ’01 asked if the Chaplain’s Office could pitch in to help buy the equipment, but Samie Kim ’01 replied that the chaplain only buys food for their group. Lloyd Nimetz ’01 suggested that the purchase of the audio equipment had merit if other College Council-recognized groups could use the equipment. Nat and Samie of Psalm 96 agreed, and the Council passed their full request unanimously (with 3 abstentions).

• Goals — Will Slocum ’99 outlined some of the goals he and co-president Kate Ervin ’99 have set. He suggested that the Council focus on reducing class size, addressing the NESCAC-NCAA policy, and promoting communication among other student governments in New England. Carrie Ryan ’00 suggested that CC compile a list of all profs’ office hours for students to peruse on the Web. Amish Shah ’00 wants to work with the dean’s office to develop an all-inclusive calendar to consolidate various campus scheduling instruments. Ami Parekh ’01 mentioned that CC publicize the Five Colleges’ online calendar (fivecolleges.edu). Liz Lee ’01 suggested that CC sponsor a board in Baxter or Goodrich that lists weekly events. Lloyd Nimetz ’01 hopes that CC will get involved in the renovation planning for the Spring Street 2000 project. Sydelle Ross ’99 wants to encourage profs to send papers home to students in the summer rather than waiting to pass them back the next fall.

• Outdoor Basketball Court — It’s being built right now behind Mission. Complete with 6 hoops, it should be ready for play in a month. Fear not, Mission hibernators, there will be no lights — at least for a while. Alums, including some from one of Williams’ most successful basketball teams, want to contribute. Still, the construction effort needs $5000 from CC. We’ll vote on the allocation next week. Thanks to Medha Kirtane ’00 for the update.

• Opinions — Watch for the glorious return of Opinions Unplugged, a live feedback session in Baxter mailroom. Liz Lee ’01 brought up three people’s input sent to opinions@wso.williams.edu. The first concern was from a frosh discouraged with the size of his classes. Liz will pass the input along to the Committee on Educational Policy. The Council will also address this issue through other administrative channels throughout the year. Another opinion involved getting cable in buildings where it currently isn’t an option. Owen Boger ’01 is working on it. JA rep George Anthes ’00 and Carrie Ryan ’00 said that the ill-fated Eph Cards aren’t working this year. They’re not cracking as much as last year’s batch, but many are unreadable in machines. Bert Leatherman ’00, a member of the Eph Card committee, will pass along that feedback.

That’s it! Stay in touch: we’re at wso.williams.edu/cc and opinions@wso.williams.edu. Until next week —