Senators Lincoln Mayer '04 and Mira Serrill-Robins '06 presented the proposal, explaining that TYPO-X will be limited to five restaurants. Participating restaurants will give TYPO-X groups a 10 percent discount. The College has agreed to pay for the cost of faculty participation, so the AAS funds will go toward funding student meals.
Treasurer Paris Wallace '04 suggested pulling $13,750 for TYPO-X from currently unallocated funds in the AAS's Master General Fund, the account from which programs like PVTA, MassPIRG and ACEMS are supported, at the beginning of each term. The senate voted 20-4 to pass this recommendation.
Two students representing the Asian Students Association, Di Shui '06 and Marika Hashimoto '06, reported on that evening's meeting regarding the recent anti-Asian remarks posted on The Daily Jolt. Shui and Hashimoto announced the formation of an intra-affinity council that will meet throughout the semester to discuss ways to handle racist sentiments on campus.
Wallace presented the Budgetary Committee's (BC) weekly funding recommendations. The total amounted to $17,000, a figure which Wallace called fiscally irresponsible. Ensuing debate centered on the funding recommendations for the fencing team, crew team and outing club.
The BC recommended giving $3,800 to the fencing team for purchasing 20 new sets of protective gear to augment the current five-set collection. Senator Mihailis Diamantis '04, the fencing coach, attributed the need to a substantial increase in student interest.
Unsatisfied with the permanence of such a dramatic rise in participation, Senator Ethan Davis '05 motioned to split the amount in half and to reconsider funding more sets if student participation continued at the same level. The senate defeated the motion.
Wallace agreed with Davis. "Let them expand, and if this stuff gets used, we'll give them more next year."
"If the budget is split," Diamantis objected, "we will, in effect, be turning half the team away."
The outing club requested $814 to take novice backpackers and climbers on a fall break trip. After debate, the senate approved the BC's recommendation that the funding be granted in full.
The senate also discussed the BC's recommendation that the senate allocate $4,400 for the crew team to complete rental payments on four vans it uses to transport athletes to practices and races. According to Wallace, the team had already received $10,000 from the AAS. After examining the need for the vans, as well as considering crew's alternative avenues of funding, the AAS approved a motion to decrease the crew allocation by $2,200, the cost of a single van.
The debates over funding for various groups sparked a discussion of the BC itself. "You have eight people allocating thousands and thousands of dollars," said Wallace. "In case that committee goes astray, we have the check of the vote of the AAS."
"The BC is not to make value judgments about clubs," said Diamantis, giving one possible explanation for its hefty recommendations.
"We're going to waste money. It's going to happen," said Senator Christian Sanchez '05.
Vice-President Elan Ghazal '05 re-read the description of the BC's activities as outlined in the revised Constitution. He claimed that their discretion extended to "taking into account the number of students affected and whether [an activity] brings something to campus" in deciding whether to propose funding.
Partial committee appointments followed the budget approval. Senators were voted onto committees with open seats that will meet in the next two weeks.
Richa Bhala '07 was appointed to the Judiciary Committee, Gloria Monfrini '07 joined the College Council and Avi Das '07 and Marco LoCascio '07 were added to the Trustee Advisory Committee on Student Life, a committee that previously included no first-years.
Sophomores Mira Serrill-Robins and Molibi Maphanyane were appointed to the Library Committee and the BC, respectively. The AAS also filled open seats on the Trustee Advisory Committee on Honorary Degrees with Senators Lincoln Mayer '04 and Rosalyn Foster '05.