Amherst College Program Board (ACPB) requested a pledge from the senate that additional funds be guaranteed to fund the Spring Concert, which is planned for the weekend of April 29. In a presentation, ACPB member Adam Kaplan '07 explained that while ACPB has procured $44,000 to be used towards this concert, the three potential artists cost more than this amount allows. Consequently, depending on the artist chosen by the student body, $11,000-$21,000 will be needed additionally in order to be able to sign a contract.
Treasurer Richa Bhala '07 explained that there were four ways to proceed. The first is that the funding would be evenly split between a discretionary allocation and reserves, an emergency fund into which about five percent of the student activities fee goes every year. The second is that $7,000-$10,000 could be covered by funds from reserves and the rest from discretionary. The third and fourth options included covering the costs entirely with reserves and not funding the amount at all, respectively. Bhala, however, observed that the third option may be the only way to help ACPB. "If they need money in a bank account now, the only [constitutional] way is reserves," she said.
In this spirit, Senator Avi Das '07 motioned to fund the Spring Concert entirely from reserves, saying that money could be transferred from discretionary back to reserves in the spring. "We need to find a long-term solution to this problem," he said. "This is the most reasonable way to deal with this problem on the short term." Though such an action, constitutionally, would not need to go to a student referendum, Senator Patrick Benson '08 felt that it should.
Senator Paul Nielsen '09 agreed. "I can't do this without telling students how it will affect them," he said. Thus, Senator Emily Silberstein '06 motioned to amend Das' motion to include a student referendum. However, Senator Daniel de Zeeuw '08 noted that "people aren't going to vote 'yes' to have a band they want to come and then vote 'no' to fund it." Silberstein's motion failed and Das' motion passed. In light of this, Senator Jessica Rothschild '06 motioned to commit to Das a committee to find a way to get money back into reserves.
Bhala said that she was not pleased with the discussion's results because she thought that students needed to know that the money was coming from reserves. Senator Rania Arja '06 motioned to form a committee that would explore how the reserve fund should be handled in the future. Senator Tim Zeiser '07, however, was pleased. "I am ecstatic that this body has approved the measure," he said.
Rothschild also wanted to discuss a restructuring of the senate so she could bring an amendment before the senate next Monday. She proposed to reduce the number of senators per class to five and to open up committee seats to students at large. While many senators agreed with the spirit of Rothschild's ideas-that the senate should be one in which students take more initiative-they had serious concerns. Das was worried about failing to fill committee seats. Silberstein pointed out that each committee has a handbook of its own and many would have to be rewritten if Rothschild's proposal was implemented. Senator Adam Bookman '08 was concerned that having over 20 committee seats open to the student body would "turn into a campaigning zoo." Senator Julie Kim '08 suggested that the seats be open to students at large, but that they be elected by the senate to avoid the confusion to which Das and Bookman hinted. De Zeeuw also noted that by keeping the Budgetary Committee (BC) the same size and by reducing the number of senators, the AAS would be creating a glorified BC. Silberstein then motioned to commit Rothschild's proposal to a committee of senators and two Judiciary Council (JC) members.
Finally, Senator Joshua Stein '08 motioned to issue a vote of confidence for Simmons in light of recent attacks against him. Senator Andrea Gyorody '07, however, thought that by doing this, the AAS may be implying that the allegations against Simmons were in some way related to his position as president of the AAS. "We only have the authority to issue a vote of confidence of him as the president of the AAS," Benson said. After a short discussion about the motion's language, it passed 19-1: "The Association of Amherst Students issues a vote of confidence in Mike Simmons '06 as AAS President."