President Ryan Park '05 announced the formation of an unofficial executive board committee on club sports. The committee, which will be comprised of senators and members of the general student body, will investigate the lack of funding from the athletics department for club sports, as well as the role of club sports on campus. The committee was formed in response to the concerns of senators and their constituents that money that could fund campus organizations is used to fund club sports, like crew and rugby instead.
Judiciary Council (JC) Chair Andre Deckrow '06 announced the newly recognized clubs, which include The Meredith, Model U.N. and Men's Project. Clubs that applied for recognition but did not receive approval included the Dance-Dance-Revolution Club and the Fight Club.
Clubs that receive recognition will have the opportunity to submit budgets for the spring semester. The deadline for newly-recognized clubs to submit budgets was extended from today to Friday. Organizations denied approval during this process can reapply for recognition at any time.
Eric Osborne '04, president of the Social Council (SoCo), regretfully informed the senate that the Sphinx party, for which SoCo had received $6,000 in discretionary funds, has been cancelled. He thanked the senate for their assistance, but told them that SoCo wants to focus on the Fall Fest. Since they will not be used, Wallace returned the funds earmarked for the Sphinx party to the discretionary pool.
Treasurer Paris Wallace '04 read the BC's weekly funding recommendations. Organizations requested $8,728, and the BC recommended a total of $7,918. The only item that was adjusted by the senate was the request from Amherst Dance to cover the costs of costume for an unexpectedly high number of dancers. The senate voted to increase the BC's recommendation of $99 to the full request of $199.
The senate allocated $6,000 to the Amherst College Program Board for their fall concert featuring headliners Hoobastank and Andrew W.K. The concert will be the main event of Fall Fest, which is scheduled for Nov. 12-16.
Russell Kornblith '06 challenged the senate to explain its new budgetary policies that severely limit the discretionary funds available for the spring. Kornblith was concerned that clubs would not be able to host events or take trips that have not already been scheduled.
Wallace explained that "the appeals money hasn't disappeared; it's gone into the initial budget allocations." Matt Vanneman '06 noted that the system rewards clubs for planning ahead, which saves the BC and the senate valuable time. "We're kind of like Santa Claus," he said. "We know who's naughty, and we know who's nice."
Sophomore Class Council Chair Rania Arja '06 presented the proposal for the class project. Each class council is required to complete one project each semester; one project must benefit the entire school while the other can be tailored to meet the needs of the class.
Arja explained that for this semester, the sophomore class council wants to use the $1,000 allocated for the project to purchase 52 DVDs selected by the sophomore class council. They compiled a list of DVDs based on "Top 100" and "Top 40" lists available online. The selections reflect their desire to make worthwhile additions to the existing library collection.
The library has offered to catalog each DVD. The library also will work with the class council to generate a list of popular DVDs that are available so that students can reference the list instead of having to search for a particular film. Once cataloged, the DVDs will be available to the entire school and the five-college community.
Senator Luke Swarthout '04 briefly presented the proposal for the senior class council project, which is also designed to benefit the whole campus. The senior council wants to designate a week during which professors, administration and staff will be encouraged to eat a meal with students in Valentine to promote interaction among students and staff on a more regular basis. The program will pay for non-student meals.
Senator Ian Shin '06 reported on his recent meeting with the Committee on Admissions and Financial Aid. He told the senate that the committee is focusing on evaluating the role of athletics in admissions decisions.
Shin said members are seeking answers to issues such as the low socioeconomic diversity and the lack of academically-oriented students within recently admitted classes.