President Michael Simmons '06 clarified his position on not having homework during the add/drop period; he said that it is something that he would like members of the Committee on Educational Policy to explore in their committee meetings.
Treasurer Richa Bhala '07 announced that on Sept. 23, she met with club and club sport representatives to discuss budgetary procedure.
Finally, Vice President Noah Isserman '07 informed the senators that, from now on, committee members will make weekly reports to the senate in order to keep the AAS fully informed about each committee's activities.
The AAS then discussed BC recommendations. The ultimate frisbee team requested $129.00 for team dues. The senate debated the constitutionality of allocating money for the team because the team spent the money before its budget was approved. The AAS is not allowed to fund any organization retroactively; however, Senator Avi Das '07 defended the ultimate frisbee team. "[This is an] instance … of circumstances getting the best of people," he said. Ultimately, the ultimate frisbee team was funded in full.
The other discretionary request was from the Italian club, who wanted $10.00 for publicity for their first meeting. Senator Andrea Gyorody '07 defended the request. "[They want to] find a way to have a cultural club even though Italian is not offered at Amherst," she said. The Italian club was also funded in full.
Simmons then asked for senators' thoughts on the subject of potentially calling an all-school meeting, a power constitutionally granted to the AAS president that President Anthony Marx suggested may be useful.
Simmons explained that the meeting would involve an intellectual discussion on socially responsible investing and the situation in Darfur. This meeting would give Marx an idea of student interest and whether or not the student body felt strongly enough about the issue for it to warrant discussing it with the board of trustees during his meeting with them on Oct. 14. "What basis does President Marx and the College have to know that this is important to students?" Simmons asked.
Simmons discussed how Marx needs to know the community is talking about the issue. He added that Marx should know where students think the line should be drawn for socially responsible investing before he can talk to the trustees about such a serious matter.
Das then made a motion to have Simmons call an all-school meeting. Das said that he thinks that turnout would be good enough to project a positive statement.
Senator Robert Cobbs '06 echoed this sentiment. "A meeting with 50 people is more impressive than a vote with 500 people," he said.
However, not all senators agreed. Senator Emily Silberstein '06 cautioned that a discussion may not be so fruitful and that a vote is a good mechanism for gauging student opinion.
Senator Janice Djabatey '07 agreed with Silberstein. She too felt that a vote was necessary first so that student interest could be evaluated.
Many senators then overwhelmingly expressed the need for table tents and posters in order to inform the student body before a meeting could take place. With this in mind, the motion was tabled so that the senate could publicize the event to determine interest in hosting the meeting.
The senate then held committee elections. Senators elected Julie Kim '08 to the Committee on Information Technology Policy, Joshua Stein '08 to the Advisory Committee to the Committee on Trusteeship and Samantha Siegal '08 to the Trustee Advisory Committee on Student Life.