~ a fresh look to CC (less controversy, more action) ~

college council minutes, november 14, 2001

~ opening ~

joe (co-pres) announced that the amendment supervisory committee (ASC) will hold its constitutional convention this saturday from 10 am ‘til 5 pm in griffin 3. if you have an opinion on the way student government should work at williams in the future, voice it this saturday!

sarah (co-pres) shared some things she learned at the faculty meeting with CC. starting next year, two requirements that were approved by the faculty last year – the writing requirement and the quantitative studies and formal reasoning requirement – will be going into effect for incoming first-years. each member of the class of ‘06 and all subsequent classes will have to take at least two "writing intensive" courses (>20 pages of writing) and one course in quantitative studies and formal reasoning.

she and craig (sec) also toured mission park wednesday morning with morty, dean roseman, tom mcevoy, and prof. dew to investigate if mission could ever serve as housing for first-years. as a part of this, mission would undergo some heavy renovations, including a total overhaul of the dining hall and lounge areas and enclosing the staircases (much like in greylock) so that suite doors could be removed and landing areas could be converted into more effective common spaces. joe added that the CUL holds open meetings every thursday at 4 pm in goodrich living room for interested students. sarah also said that the CUL hopes to have a pretty concrete plan by winter study, when there will be a big campus-wide forum for the introduction of the plan.

no outside students visited CC, but CC members themselves had a lot to say at this point. garry (all-campus) started things off by asking if anyone else felt like the removal of bascom house as a residence was a "kick to the balls." he expressed that admissions could have moved to a number of different locations, and that taking away bascom was a mistake. mayo (gladden) added that students usually have at least a minimal opportunity for input through the committees on priorities and resources, but that in this instance, it was virtually a decree from on high. floyd (all-campus) offered the counter-point that some of the other houses that are currently either administrative or less-than-preferred are being considered for upgrades, as well.

charlie (dennett) voiced concern over the article on a nescac-wide admissions index. joe and other members of CC helped to address that by assuring that we already do have an index, but that there are no real standards applied across the conference.

JP (treas) reported that the bylaw revision committee has met twice and has decided to suggest some pretty comprehensive bylaw revisions to CC.

noting a disturbing trend amongst route 2-motorists, darlene (prospect) commented that she has observed an increase in aggressiveness, especially along route 2, and has discussed with jean thorndike the replacement of the current yellow-pole design with last year’s more conspicuous crosswalk warning signs. caroline (2002) replied that at the same time, she has been seeing a disturbingly high number of students refuse to dismount their bikes when crossing the street, something cyclists are supposed to do.

nate (pratt) wondered whatever happened to "that ring-thing". joe replied that our contact with milestone traditions, molly butzer, has been directed to fede (2004), who was unfortunately not present at this meeting.

as a way to promote community on campus, willis (all-campus) will be attempting to organize a broomball league independent of the one that already goes on. this campus could always do with a little more broomball…

joe updated CC on a project to allow seniors to keep their williams e-mail address as a forwarding service for a certain amount of time following graduation. mark berman (head of network systems) is firmly behind providing this service to seniors, contingent upon the alumni office helping to fund it. and that’s where there seems to be some tension…

in an attempt to move toward a more cohesive CC, garry asked if CC would be interested in utilizing the outing club’s low ropes course in hopkins forest. he will look into contacting WOC and setting up a date.

caroline closed open time with the following opinions of the week:

• a student expressed distress that the smaller cup size in goodrich has not been accompanied by a lower price. this opinion was sent to the goodrich committee as well.

• at one point last meeting, a CC member argued that the mad cow was not punished; then what about the derecognition? wasn’t that punishment?

• a request for CC to censure itself for not taking responsibly "the responsibility to understand the Constitution and bylaws…and the duty to examine and accept the far ranging precedent set by a decision before making the decision." this was addressed later in the meeting, so read on…

kate forssell ‘02 of the winter study committee reported that until now, the committee has basically only had time to consider the merits of proposed ‘99s. starting with their next meeting or two, they will address other issues related to winter study, like seniors not getting any of their top 5 choices (rosie (2003) knows of two such seniors!)

floyd also reported that lance white ‘04 showed up for the meeting, but floyd told him to go home because he is expecting a fairly long and detailed letter soon from the head of dining services.

he also reported on behalf of the bookstore committee that one issue that the committee will attempt to address is that of pricing of used books in the bookstore. according to morgan barth, a member of the committee, it seems that water street books is overcharging for used books. charlie asked if the college couldn’t run the bookstore themselves and put it on campus someplace, maybe in the new baxter? to this garry responded that he thinks that a bookstore in the midst of "prime real estate" like baxter hall would be a tremendous waste of space. joe also advised students who to consider purchasing books online at half.com, since the books might be cheaper there.

~ new business ~

mayo proposed that CC send to president schapiro the letter that sarah composed regarding the current policy of kicking seniors out mere hours after they graduate. several CC members argued for the inclusion of a sentence or two identifying the emotional stress for seniors during that particular time that freeden (JA) introduced via e-mail prior to the meeting. the final product, after some discussion in CC on the content of the letter, claims that this deadline "severely limits flexibility in student travel plans" and "adds an unnecessary element of chaos to an already hectic day." both the students and the custodial staff of the college suffer because of this policy; not only does it not allow seniors to "leave the college with decency," it leaves "a monumental and sometimes hazardous cleaning job for the custodial staff" since seniors must vacate with such haste. the letter "charge[s morty] with changing the current housing policy to allow seniors to leave their rooms on the day following graduation." the motion to send the letter to president schapiro passed unanimously, 27-0-0 (1).

andrew mitchell ’02 (general manager of WCFM) came before CC to request $1,843.00 to fund the purchase of a "marti." a marti is a remote transmitting device that would allow the radio to broadcast studio-quality signal from anywhere in the region. WCFM’s old marti is from the 60’s and in desperate need of replacement. while the current marti can only handle minimal spoken word or debates, the new marti would enable WCFM to broadcast a breadth of events, including music performances, lectures, sporting matches, etc. WCFM was also able to reduce its request from $2,843.00 to $1,843.00 by obtaining funding from the athletic department and the office of public affairs.

tamika (bascom/brooks/chadbourne/perry) asked why WCFM isn’t using any of its own money for this? andrew explained that in the fall subgroup allocation process, WCFM had initially included this request and cut it with the understanding that they could return to CC to request the needed amount later. he also pointed out that the new marti would positively affect extended members of the williams community (and not just the students on-campus) including family members of athletes or musicians who would like to hear the broadcast of their child’s performance.

caroline moved to amend the motion to reduce the amount to $1,343.00, arguing that if WCFM thinks that this is a priority, then they should make it a priority. she also thinks that WCFM should request money from the alumni office, since some of the beneficiaries will be alumni. andrew replied that currently a T1 audio feed is needed to effectively listen to a WCFM broadcast, so he did not feel comfortable requesting money from the alumni office for something that many alumni would not benefit from. jim (frosh council) asked if WCFM has checked into lower costing martis? andrew assured CC that this was the lowest costing and most cost-efficient marti that WCFM could get for what it needs.

the amendment to reduce the recommended amount failed, 10-17-0 (2) and the vote to allocate $1,843.00 to WCFM for purchase of a new marti passed, 24-2-1 (3).

floyd proposed the following motion (a variation of the one submitted earlier as an opinion) so that CC would "remain consistent in its actions":

in support of his own motion, floyd asked CC members if they have ever actually read the constitution and bylaws. if not, then you have been negligent in your duties. the passage of a motion like this would represent CC’s recognition that it needs to be more aware of its vested responsibilities.

joe, arguing against the motion of self-censure, pointed out that there is already a formal account of this action on the record in the form of our revocation of the de-recognition earlier this year. to this, garry argued that there had also already been a "self-censure" by the mad cow on itself in the form of its apology, but we went ahead and censured them anyway. caroline called this motion a redundant action. furthermore, she suggested that it just doesn’t make sense for CC to censure itself. michael (mills/thompson) agreed and motioned to postpone indefinitely. this passed, 23-5-0 (4).

rosie moved to suggest to the CUL that the berkshire quad should become converted to house the first-year class – in effect, that the "odd quad" should become the "frosh quad." shayru (dodd complex) mentioned that this is under consideration, but that there is concern that such a move would entirely isolate the first-year class. JP moved to lay this motion on the table (meaning we can return to it if someone brings it up in a future meeting), which passed 26-1-1 (5).

respectfully submitted,

~ absentees ~

coburn (bryant/woodbridge), brenninkmeyer (hopkins), o’donnell (tyler/annex)

craig tamamoto

CC secretary, 02cat