Medha and Bert started off this eventful meeting by stating that they thought that council was doing a great job so far this year and that hopefully the energy that the representatives have shown so far, will continue into the next year. They announced that all students with opinions for the Selection Committee for the new Athletics Director should contact Nick Martinelli ’00 or John Moorhead ’00. Additionally, they stated that the council will be having dinner with President Vogt during Winter Study.

Committee on Educational Policy: Max Weinstein ’00 announced that a new curricular innovation will be arriving soon to Williams…1/2 credits for certain music courses. He stated that this does not imply a switch to a credit hour system but CEP will be considering such special cases as they arise. CEP has also been continuing discussion about the importance of writing in the curriculum. There has been some talk about hiring a professor who will be able to teach expository writing. Carrie Ryan ’00 stated that instead of hiring someone who can teach expository writing we should work on improving the expository writing course that already exists. Ben Angarita ’03 stated that he would like to see the CEP address the possibility of starting a Latino Studies Department here. He stated that the administration promised that such a department would be formed on campus in 1992. Max stated that he will bring this issue to the CEP.

Library Committee: Unfortunately Jon Alwais ’01 could not make it, but if you have any comments email 01jda.

Dining Services: Terri O’Brien ’02 stated that at their last meeting they spoke with the Nutritionist who wanted to remind all students that her door (in Baxter Lounge) is always open to students who would like to speak with her. Dining Halls will be having a new menu cycle starting in Winter Study. The surveys that were conducted two weeks ago have not yet been assessed. Chris Delaney ’01 asked if it would be possible to have more condiments such as cocktail sauce especially on nights that they are serving shrimp. An opinion sent to council regarding the possibility of getting snack bar points if you are on the 14 or 10 meal plan was brought up and sent to Terri. Joe Masters ’02 stated that dining services has definitely improved since last year. Other members requested more raisin bread, more green tobasco sauce, that the bread shouldn’t run out before dinner ends, that the snack bar should be open later on Saturdays and earlier on weekdays.

Lecture Committee: Lauren Buckley ’00 said that the committee is continuing to decide what the theme for the lecture series should be. The Lecture Committee had been informed that council had received extra money from the administration to sponsor lectures and was wondering if this was true. Nelson Hioe ’00 informed them that this was not true. None of the council funds are earmarked for specific activities.

Student Health Advisory Committee: Unfortunately Caroline Messmer ’02 was unable to make the meeting, but if you have any comments email 02ctm_2.

World Politik — Dan Elsea ’02 and Abid Shah ’02 requested recognition for a club that would publish a magazine consisting of student journals about world politics and economies. The Political Science Department and President’s Office has already promised them funding and they are looking to other departments for funding. Carrie Ryan ’00 asked whether they think the group would eventually be asking for funding. They said that they probably would not. College Council voted to recognize World Politik: 30-0-1

William Students for Reform — Catherine Williams ’00 requested recognition for the Williams Students for Reform who see the need for a space on campus for students who want to get involved in student government who did not run for college council or may not want to serve on a committee, but who would like to see certain campus issues addressed in greater detail than they are in College Council. Their current activities include publishing an alternative minutes, and discussing the bylaw revisions with CC. Jeff Herzog ’00 questioned whether in their reforms they were planning on working with council and not against council. Elissa Schevinsky ’01 responded that they probably will have to work with CC. Bert Leatherman ’00 stated that this group of students is doing great things for the campus but it seems unfortunate that the campus is so fragmented that all students can’t come to one organization to voice their concerns. He stated that by recognizing this group CC will be institutionalizing fragmentation. Cathy Williams ’00 stated that this group does not aim to be the "voice of dissent." They simply want to provide an outside venue where students can deal with pertinent issues in depth. Nancy Walworth ’00stated that council should support this group because they provide us with conflict which will make CC improve. Abid Shah ’02 stated that this group will allow for more opinions to be heard. Peter Krause ‘02stated that although this a group of concerned students, it does require "club recognition." He stated that disagreement and dissent are great, but recognizing this group defeats the purpose–it too then runs into the same dangers as college council. Carrie Ryan ’00 asked whether the Reform Group is also looking at other groups of representative governance on campus, such as the housing committee. Dave Ramos ’00 stated that at present they are not, but eventually they probably will be. Nelson Hioe ‘00questioned the general premise of the club. He stated that students are already given numerous possible ways to voice their opinions to College Council and that this year council has consistently voiced its readiness to hear the students opinions by putting the agenda in the DA and reminding students to speak with their representatives, by revitalizing the use of opinions and by holding meetings in Baxter Hall. Ami Parekh ’01 asked whether the club had a written mission statement. Many of the questions that council members were raising concerned what the goals of this club were and this would be clarified in a written statement. Also, recently the council has been requesting mission statements from all groups that ask for recognition. Members of the Reform Group stated that they did not come with a written mission statement because they are a developing group dependent on the opinions of students and hence it was not possible to specify exactly what they wanted to accomplish. Medha Kirtane ’00 stated that the purpose of CC is to respond to student opinion. Recently students have voiced the opinion that Council has become exclusive and instead of setting the example that students can voice their opinion through the council the Reform group would be setting up yet another ‘exclusive’ body. She also mentioned that the idea of the Alternative Minutes was great except that they were not objective as the group stated they would be. Instead they were subjective and misrepresented the events at the Council meeting. Todd Rogers ’01 stated that he thinks it is essential that council not look at the effects of this group on council but whether its presence is beneficial to the entire student body. He believes that this group would benefit the student body, but he felt that Council needed a written mission statement of this club in order to recognize them. David Ramos ’00 stated that, "Reform is a group of Williams’ students who support and advocate improvements to the college's student governance system, and who hope to provide an independent voice on campus." Elizabeth Moulton ’02 stated that she was concerned that this was a withdrawal process instead of attempting to work from within the process. Morgan Barth ’02 stated that this group would enable another forum for discussion that would be great for the campus. Nishant Nayarr ’02 questioned whether CC could give them the ability to advertise in the DA without officially recognizing them. Sheraz Choudary ’00 stated that we had received opinions stating that if we did not recognize this group we would be doing a great disservice to the college. There was a move to vote on recognition of the Williams Students for Reform…the outcome: 14-14-3. A tie! The deciding vote, therefore, had to be made by a unified vote of the Co Presidents. With Leatherman Eloquence, Bert quoted the constitution "Our hope is that through the Student Body we can create a community to which everyone belongs and in which everyone participates," and voted against recognition of the Reform group. He stated that they voting for teamwork, but not for the creation of schism between the college community. When Medha and Bert ran for co-presidents they ran on no platform except that they hoped to increase community on campus. They hope that members of this group will continue to voice their opinions and work with the CC to improve student governance.

Patrick McCurdy ’02 and Becky Semble ’01 came to council to solicit opinion for the housing/B&G committee about the new fire detector policy that may be implemented in Winter Study. The Policy concerns tampering with fire detectors in rooms and common areas. According to the old policy if a student was caught tampering with a Fire Detector, they would have to pay a $50 fine and there was a possibility of suspension. The new policy would implement a $500 fine. He said that this action was primarily a mechanism to ensure the safety of students. Peter Krause ’02 stated that although it seemed harsh, it may be a good idea especially if it is a safety issue. If you have opinions on this issue email your house reps or Tom McEvoy.

Malin Pinsky ’03 spoke to Council about the issue of sweatshops. A group is hoping to form a committee consisting of three staff members, two faculty member, one individual from the CDE and one community business member and Three Students. This committee will look into the responsibility of Williams on this issue; for example they will decide whether they should join nationwide group that promotes transparency in the apparel industry. In our case, hopefully the college would require that the companies we buy staff and athletic teams buy uniforms from give us production information IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN THIS COMMITTEE EMAIL 03mlp.

Medha Kirtane ’00 stated that she will be setting up a meeting with the members of the Reform Group to address issues that have been brought up and all council members are welcome to attend.

June Yi ’02 stated that there is Latino Music Party in Goodrich at Saturday.

Carrie Ryan ’00 that the Log Committee needs to hire FIRE TENDERS for winter study…if interested email 00chr.

Sophia Kuo ’00 is holding an all campus discussion about everything that has to do with residential life. This will take the form of a brainstorming session for ideas that students feel need to be addressed. Such ideas would include everything from academics to student government to housing. They hope to then work in coordination with college council on the issues that are brought up. EVERYONE IS INVITED — GOODRICH RESOURCE ROOM. FRIDAY 12/3 — 3:30PM. Email 00sk_3.

1. WSO should continue posting names in rooms during housing draw, but that they should keep it updated until the beginning of the fall semester. --- Joe Masters ’02 will take this to WSO.
2. People on the 10 or 14 meal plan should be able to use unused meals in the snack bar. --- Terri O’Brien will take this to Dining Services Committee
3. CC should set up a public and a private listserver, so that some discussion can be accessed by all students —Joe Masters ’02 will look into this and Council will discuss this further over winter study.
4. Compliment on the new WSO webpage --- sent to those responsible for the changes
5. Need for lighting on the stairs between West and Morgan.–Taken care of — lights should be there by the end of Winter Study
6. A list of the Pay Periods should be online —Todd Rogers ’01 will take care of this.
7. Teacher Evaluations should not be conducted on the last day of classes. Profs do not provide enough time to fill them out, and students in a rush to finish so they don’t put a lot of thought into them — forwarded to Max Weinstein ’00 and the CEP.
8. There was a complaint about the bands that SAC brings to the campus, and the need for CC to fund them the large amount that they do. This opinion was forwarded to SAC
9. CC archives should be opened to the public — Joe Masters ’02 will respond to this email. Discussion about this will take place over Winter Study.
10. In Goodrich — the music should not be played as loud as it is currently being played., the Goodrich web page should be kept up to date and the no alcohol policy should be maintained. — Jeff Herzog ’00 will take these to the Goodrich committee.
11. Snack Bar should be opened later on Saturdays and earlier during the week — Terri O’Brien ’02 will take this to Dining Services Committee
12. The messages on computers in Baxter when checking email are offensive — sent to WSO
13. Opinions supporting the Alternative Minutes — Todd Rogers ’01 will respond to these opinions

The proposals were presented to council and they will be discussed through Winter Study. There was a very productive discussion among non-council and council members on Tuesday night. All the opinions regarding the bylaw revision proposals will be taken into account. CHECK OUT THE PROPOSALS at wso.williams.edu/cc and send us your opinion!

That is all for this yearJ

Have a great break and good luck on exams!

See you all in the 22^nd century —

PEACE — ami

If you have any concerns or comments concerning the minutes, please email me at 01amp.

Tell the CC want you think: email opinions@wso.williams.edu