The fall budget was composed of the projected $310,724 that will be collected through student activities fees. Of the total budget, $135,900, or 44 percent, goes into the Master General Fund.
The AAS will receive $10,000 of the Master General Fund for the AAS fund. Of that $10,000, $6,000 goes into the Senate Fund for class projects, $2,000 is used for administrative costs and $2,000 is set aside for employee salaries.
Senators voted to allot $40,000 to Amherst College Program Board, $30,000 to Social Council and $24,000 to The Olio. In addition, $10,000 was set aside for the PVTA, $8,000 for MassPIRG, $6,400 for FLICS, $5,000 for the five-college Fine Arts fee and $2,500 for ACEMS.
Forty-one percent, or $126,216, of the total budget went into the initial club fall budget allocations. The remaining $49,094 is available for the fall semester discretionary fund.
Senator Jacob McGuire '07 motioned to pass a proposed constitutional amendment to change the structure of the several AAS committees, including the budgetary committee, to fill student seats with non-senators.
The senate decided not to hold a special referendum on the amendment. The referendum will appear in the fall on the next regularly-scheduled ballot.
President Ryan Park '05 proposed two bylaw amendments to the constitution. The senate passed the first amendment, which added the AAS Distinguished Teaching Award to the bylaws of the constitution. The senate voted down the second amendment, which would have included the AAS Distinguished Senator Awards in the bylaws.
Park then announced that senator Lincoln Mayer '04 and senator Mihailis Diamantis '04 were this year's Distinguished Seniors.
According to Park, included in Mayer's achievements in the senate is his expansion of the TYPO program and his service on many AAS committees. Park also noted the entertainment that Mayer always provides. "[Mayer] delighted the senate with his quick wit," said Park.
Diamantis has always actively participated in meetings and actively lobbied for the Honor Code that was recently approved by the student body.
Senator Justin Sharaf '05 motioned to pass a resolution which would demonstrate the senate's support for adding the New England Sports Network (NESN) to the College's cable network. However, adding NESN to the cable network will require the College to give up another channel which it now carries. The senate asked Sharaf to approach the administration about the proposition and discuss with the senate which current channel should be dropped from the current cable network.
The senate met with Teresa Fishel, one of the candidates for the position of librarian of the College. Fishel spoke about her personal and professional background. She also entertained questions from the senate about her experience and what she would do if chosen as the College librarian.