"An allocation of $0 would have effectively meant the end of the seminar after two years of successful programming," Maliekel said after the meeting. "Why some members of the BC would have made the argument that our club is not the type AAS should support even though it is widely accepted that students appreciate it ... is beyond my ability to understand."
Treasurer Ian Shin '06 explained the BC's decision. "The members voted to recommend $0 for the Amherst College Pre-Business Seminar because they believed that it was not a program that fell under the jurisdiction of the student government," he said.
Some individuals present at the meeting still questioned the appropiate place for a Pre-Business Seminar at Amherst College. "It's not that I dislike the seminar," said Rosalyn Foster '05. "My basic question is just whether or not at a liberal arts college we want such a pre-professional emphasis."
Many senators, however, defended the seminar's importance at the College. "At a place like Amherst College, the pre-business seminar reminds you how to interview, how to network, how to be professional in the real world, no matter what you go on to do," explained senator Mike Simmons '06E. Last semester Simmons started a think tank at the College called Rethink. In doing so he used the lessons he had learned about entrepreneurship at the seminar.
Senator Jake Thomas '07 also voiced support for the program and its leadership "The pre-business seminar has become the heart of the Interterm," he said. "It's a shining example of student-organized, student-run programming."
The AAS declined to fund Amherst College Program Board's (ACPB) big event of the semester, a debate between republican Anne Coulter and Peter Beinart, editor of the liberal magazine The New Republic. AAS President Ryan Park '05 explained that ACPB had already received an increased budget this semester. The BC recommended that ACPB come back to request money for specific smaller programs later in the semester if necessary.
Members of ACPB told the BC at last Wednesday's meeting that the AAS has always alloted additional funding to ACPB for its large event and that without additional funding this semester it would not be able to plan events for most of November or December.
In total the AAS allocated $9,297 of its $49,094 set aside for discretionary funding. Shin announced that after adding to this year's discretionary fund unspent money allocated last spring in club budgets and discretionary funding, the actual amount available this semester for discretionary funding had increased by 50 percent, bringing the figure up to nearly $75,000.
Once the AAS allocates money during a semester, that money cannot be put back into the AAS account and reallocated during the same semester; it must be rolled over the subsequent semester. The rollover amount from one semester to the next due to allocated but unspent funds generally ranges between $8,000 and $25,000.
Senators also discussed a number of student concerns regarding the parking situation at the College.
Senator Christian Sanchez '05 noted that Alumni Lot, which is currently closed to students, is frequently far from full, even during the day when the majority of the faculty is on campus. "Even just a row of student parking would help a lot," Sanchez suggested.
Marco LoCascio '07 discussed his disappointment that, as a result of the changes in student parking, there are no outdoor basketball courts available for students at the College-the temporary parking lot on the upper tennis courts precludes students from using the College's only two outdoor basketball courts.
The AAS ultimately decided that Park should voice the AAS's concerns on parking to the College administration and President Anthony Marx's newly founded commission on parking (see Starr to chair parking investigation committee, page 1).
The AAS also appointed senator Viet Do '06 to the Committee on Priorities and Resources, which looks at the College's yearly budget and makes recommendations for spending.