After Senator Boris Bulayev '07 announced that Sunday's Educate!-sponsored dodgeball tournament had raised about $600 with help from prizes provided by the AAS, Senator Josh Stein '08 introduced his constitutional amendment on school-wide referenda. The amendment, which was discussed but not passed, stipulates that any student enrolled at the College-on campus or abroad-would have the power to bring "any question or amendment" to referendum once signed by 10 percent of each class and checked by the Judicial Council Chair.
The AAS parsed the amendment's language aggressively. In its original draft, the amendment declared that the Judicial Council Chair would review any subject of referenda for its "constitutionality." Several senators took issue with that wording, though. Senators Rania Arja '06 and Avi Das '07 argued that the Judicial Council Chair should be supplied with the authority to check the referenda for logic only, rather than for constitutionality.
Senator Marco LoCascio '07 and Arja argued that the 10 percent figure should be increased because students often sign materials when solicited regardless of its substance, without giving much thought. Das and Senator Rob Cobbs '06 countered that argument. Das said that very few students care to sign any legislation, and Cobbs noted that raising the requisite 10 percent would make it extremely difficult to collect a sufficient number of junior class signatures because of the high number of juniors studying abroad.
On a broader level of analysis, Senator Spencer Robins '08 took issue with the notion of judging the constitutionality of any constitutional amendment. He said that any bodies chosen to review a referendum should choose whether to "recommend that it passes" but should not have the power to determine its constitutionality. Stein took notes as his colleagues offered suggestions, and he said that after adapting the amendment, he would present a new finished product to the Senate for a vote.
On an entirely separate subject, Cobbs and Elections Committee Chair Justin Sharaf '05 announced that during next week's senate and JC elections, a referenda would appear asking students whether they support MASSPIRG, and the $9 fee that each student must pay out of its student activity fee. In past years, students have paid a $5 refundable fee. The fee will be refundable next year as well. Das disagreed with the funding of MASSPIRG, noting that the local MassPIRG responsible for the town of Amherst may decide not to use the money provided by the AAS in a particular year, which would be tantamount to a waste of money for the College. Arja, however, supported Cobbs. "Eight-thousand dollars for MassPIRG is a good cause regardless," she said.
Treasurer Ian Shin '06 presented the first draft of the Master General fund, which proposed allocating $4,000 to ACEMS, $12,250 to the AAS, $5,000 to Fine Arts, $7,875 to MassPIRG, $25,000 to Olio, $40,000 to the Amherst College Program Board, $10,000 to the PVTA and $25,000 to the Social Council.
Several senators suggested that the senate provide funding to the Social Council and to Program Board through conventional club budgets rather than through the fixed Master General fund. Bulayev disagreed. "What makes us know more than the Program Board as to what events will be attended?" he questioned. "We put on a lot of events that no one attends through our discretionary fund. Does that make us bad too?"
The senate also voted to give away all of the remaining money in the discretionary fund. However, Shin reported that there is about $70,000 in allocated funds that have not been spent.
At the end of the meeting, senators had a general discussion about what they thought of the ice skating rink, which was built on Valentine quad this winter. Senators seemed to agree that it was considered a failure by most of the student body. "The whole idea was pretty stupid," Senator Techo Kim '06 said. "You have to think things through-there were no skates, and there was nothing to prevent people from falling off the ends of the rink."