Budgetary Committee (BC) Chair Livia Angiolillo '04 recommended that the AAS allot the ACPB $13,000. This made the budget for the concert just high enough to pay for the main and opening acts. ACPB Co-Chair Arshia Choudhury '04 requested full funding from the senate. She explained that without full funding the ACPB could not move forward with any of the plans because elements such as sound, stage, Physical Plant, security and promotions are crucial to the concert. Flood motioned to add the additional $12,000 ACPB requested to the week's budget, and the senate finally passed the motion.
Angiolillo's recommendations also allotted $20,800 for the spring semiformal. Flood requested more money for the event, claiming that the amount the committee had allotted was not sufficient. One of the main points of contention was the rental of a floor, which Flood claimed was necessary after people wearing certain forms of pointy footwear felt themselves getting stuck in the mud at last year's event. He requested that the senate apportion the entire rollover fund of unspent money from last semester to the semiformal. The motion passed. The amount of money in the rollover is approximately $28,000, although the exact amount has not yet been determined. Flood will receive $20,800 from the original allotment for the semiformal, along with the rest of the money in the rollover fund once that amount is determined.
The senators put budgetary discussions on hold to allow for a presentation by Dean of Students Ben Lieber. Lieber began by mentioning many students' lack of respect for property, the physical integrity of other students and the Campus Police. He said that a national journal of Campus Police reported an increase in "bad behavior" on the part of college students across the country, "especially by first-years," he said.
Another change that Lieber mentioned was "the sheer amount of hard alcohol, as opposed to beer, which has always been around and will presumably always be with us."
Students disagreed with Lieber's assessment of the change in alcohol choice, but not the increases in unruly behavior. "I don't think the alcohol consumption has changed since I got here," said Flood.
"People have gotten more belligerent over the years," said Will Johnson '03.
Other people who attended the meeting also saw problems arising among the freshman class. "Most of [the members of the freshman class] have probably never seen beer in their lives. ... They're not ready for drinking and its repercussions," said Enid Rivera '03, president of the social council.
According to Lieber, the College sends more students to the hospital for alcohol poisoning than they did when the drinking age was 18.
Senators engaged Lieber on these and other related issues, such as a more coherent disciplinary policy and less secretive disciplinary proceedings, a seemingly stricter Campus Police force this year and the general lack of respect often discussed in senate meetings.
Lieber went on to mention the drastic increases-as much as six time as frequent-in incidences of cheating from the early to the late 1990s. "It's a really disturbing trend, and we are not alone."
Lieber also addressed students' use of the basements of the old fraternity houses for parties. This is a problem because these sites are "not up to fire codes," he said. Because of recent lawsuits at other institutions of higher education "we may have to do something about that," said Lieber.
With two weeks of budgetary recommendations to make, Angiolillo had a laundry list of clubs that requested funding. The AAS voted to allot most of the requested funding to groups and events including The Indicator, Foreign Policy Forum, Keepers of the Word, the Amherst Christian Fellowship, the Jazzy Jeffs intermural soccer team, the Outing Club, the Ballroom Club, the Amherst Feminist Alliance and the Pride Alliance. After this week's spending, $9,494.21 remains in the programming fund and $15,717.44 remains in the discretionary fund.
Angiolillo also announced that budgetary appeals will be held beginning the week after spring break.
Elan Ghazal '05 announced that the College Council had decided to raise the Campus Center fee from $50 to $80. The fee is part of the comprehensive fee and had not been changed in eight years. Ghazal said that the new revenue will go towards new activities.