Kate Ervin ’99 opened the meeting by asking for CC volunteers to fill open committee slots. Monisha Agrawal ’99 will join the registrar’s committee; Carrie Ryan ’00 will join SAC; Ami Parekh ’01, Matt Bryson ’99, and John Rivera-Dirks ’99 will join the new B&G committee; and Medha Kirtane ‘00 and Carrie Ryan ’00 will join the grievances committee.

Will Slocum ’99 asked for the Council to identify goals for the year. Committees formed around the following issues:

Next, Council began reviewing the finance committee’s recommendations on allocation of the student activities tax. In the activism group, Julian Fang ’01, Bert Leatherman ’00, and Owen Boger ’01 suggested that the stipend for the typists of the Peace and Justice daily e-mail news summary be cut. They cited that no other student groups’ members get paid. The motion to cut the P&J budget from $1400 to $120 passed. Jan Postma ’99 thought CC shouldn’t fund the Pre-med Society’s reception for local M.D.s. He suggested the administration should pay for such an event. Jan’s motion failed by a close vote (8-12-2). The rest of the activism subgroup’s budgets passed without amendments by a vote of 18-4.

In the arts subgroup, several CC members, citing lack of previous visibility of the Photography Club, expressed concern that the club would receive $1700. Justin Yarmark ’99, a member of the finance committee, explained that the Photography Club needed funds for lots of one-time equipment purchases. The clubs in the art subgroup, including the photography club, received the allotments recommended by the finance committee.

Next, Council reviewed the recommended budgets for the big sports clubs on campus. Owen Boger ’01 raised the point that the rugby team’s coach’s salary was raised without asking for Council’s approval. Bert Leatherman ’00 built on this point, noting that several groups — not necessarily sports clubs -- had signed contracts for services or goods over the summer and suggested that CC should take a hard look at having its hands tied to pay for items purchased before budget approvals. These concerns aside, Council easily passed the budgets in this subgroup.

In the subgroup covering tournament teams and smaller sports clubs, James Apgar ’02 from the men’s volleyball club came to request more than the $615 than the finance committee had recommended for the group. The unfortunate allocation occurred because no one from the team came to the finance committee’s meeting. James was seeking $2291. Vicious debate ensued over whether the group was entitled to get money if no one from their club met with the finance committee, as other treasurers had. Council refused to give the volleyball club their full request but offered to reconsider at a later meeting. Matt Bryson ’99 and Bert Leatheman ’00 were grieved that the debate team’s budget has increased three-fold over the last three years. Eric Soskin ’99 pointed out that the group has grown proportionately and has experienced great success. Jan Postma ’99 and Matt Bryson ’99 asked Council not to pay for the entry fees for "semi-active" members of the debate team. The proposed cut of $900 passed by a vote of 12-8-2. The rest of the finance committee’s recommendations for this subgroup passed 18-2-2.

Next, Council discussed the campus-services subgroup. Matt Bryson ’99 and Bert Leatherman ’00 pointed out that SAC and Cinephiles each agreed to cut 5 movie showings in the spring to avoid overlap. While Council agreed that this cut was appropriate, several Council members rose in defense of Cinephiles and SAC to say that no more movies should be cut. The subgroup’s budgets passed unanimously.

The music and publications subgroups got off easy: there was little to discuss, and each received unanimous approval. The spiritualism subgroup allocations passed (20-0-2) with note that the Jewish Association is now funded by the Minority Coalition, partly because Minco pays for food and CC doesn’t.

The Council discussed the Goodrich manger’s salary, $4025 for the year exclusive of the summer. While some members thought this salary was high relative to other campus jobs, consensus emerged that the job is time-intensive enough to warrant the salary, and the salary passed 22-0.

In a formality fulfilling a commitment made last year, Council donated $5000 at the request of Medha Kirtane ’00 to the construction of the outdoor basketball court being built behind mission.

Bert Leatherman ‘00

CC Secretary