The program costs $2,500 for delivery of 100 copies of the paper to Valentine Dining Hall, Monday through Friday.
Park said that many students enjoy the program. He also argued that putting the program in the Master General Fund will save the Senate time. "The reason I want this to be in the Master General Fund is because we can't keep having this go through discretionary funding," he said. "Then every semester a senator must submit this for funding."
Several senators raised concerns about adding the program to the permanent budget. Treasurer Ian Shin '06 expressed concern because the program is so new. "Time-testing is one thing I would like to see more of," he said.
Senator Christian Sanchez '05 asked about the possibility of changing which newspaper the AAS orders. Park reassured Sanchez that the Senate could easily alter the budget and newspaper at any time.
Park explained that when the program was started two years ago the AAS conducted a poll asking students which paper they would prefer. "No one wants to read those other newspapers," he said. "The Washington Post got 0.9 percent of the votes and The Boston Globe got less than 10 percent."
Some senators expressed concern that the senate was making decisions based solely on their political views. "The New York Times is a rather liberal paper," said Senator Josh Stein '08. "So shouldn't we just set [the program] up as a general paper in our bylaws?"
Shin also worried about the possible loss of student interest. "That is $2,500 that could go to waste," he said. "We have to pay at the beginning of the semester regardless of student use."
Park strongly disagreed, citing the popularity of the program at the College and at other schools. "Over 200 schools across the country do this program," he said. "The point is that [the program] has been going on for over two years. People are going to continue to enjoy this program so we might as well guarantee it funding."
The Senate approved a motion to postpone voting on Park's proposal so that Shin could ascertain the program's effect on the total budget. "The AAS bylaws stipulate that the Master General Fund be anywhere between 39 percent to 45 percent of the total budget," said Shin. Some senators were concerned that adding The New York Times program would put the Master General Fund over the limit.
The Senate also approved an amendment requiring that the Senate approve any surveys administered in the AAS voting booth. The amendment stemmed from the Senate's concern about individual senators and class council representatives who were administering surveys using the AAS voting booth without getting approval from the Senate. The original amendment was passed after Senator Elan Ghazal '05 made organizational changes.
The junior class and sophomore class councils reported on their class projects. "We are thinking about putting a computer in Valentine Atrium and possibly the gym," said Senator Ranja Arja '06, chair of the junior class council. The sophomore class proposed two ideas. "We might do napkin holders on each table in Val," said Avi Das '07. "Or [put] another laser printer in the Media Center to alleviate some of the back-up."
The Senate again debated funding for The Hamster and this time approved $897 for 800 copies of a 12-page black and white edition of The Hamster. The approved amount reflected the reduced cost of printing The Hamster in black and white instead of color. "They've done valid legwork and it sounds good," said Senator Noah Isserman '07.