At its final scheduled meeting of the year, the Undergraduate Council of Students pushed to finish pressing business by passing resolutions, certifying elections and presenting recommendations for next year's council.
However, the University committee appointments process, which was to conclude with approval of 49 appointments to 12 committees at the Wednesday meeting, was postponed due to a potential violation of the UCS code of operations. An additional meeting will be held Saturday to further discuss all committee appointments before certifying them.
Brendan Hargreaves '06, a current member of the Residential Council and chair of the lottery committee, brought his concern to UCS "that the appointments (to ResCouncil) were made unfairly."
Hargreaves, who was selected to be a member of next year's council, said he was concerned about the lack of interviews for applicants, and said that only the third question on the application, which was about the problems facing the lottery and ways that it can be improved, is representative of what ResCouncil actually does. In addition, Hargreaves said ResCouncil faces many other issues of which applicants were not made aware.
Appointments Chair Will Cunningham '07 said there were applicants currently on ResCouncil "that did not take the application seriously." Seventeen applicants applied for 13 voting and four alternate positions on the council. Three of the four chosen to be alternates are current ResCouncil members, including one voting member.
Hargreaves said UCS was "disrespecting the process," as applicants were "expecting the opportunity for an interview."
Though no community members or other potential appointees conveyed concerns about the appointments for the other committees, after much debate UCS decided to table all their appointments until investigating the code at a special meeting for voting members that will be called this weekend. This meeting, like weekly UCS general body meetings, will be announced through e-mail and open to the public.
At Wednesday's meeting, outgoing President Joel Payne '05 and outgoing Vice President Charley Cummings '06 reflected on the council's activities over the past year and issues facing the council in the future.
Cummings said the council has made progress this year and praised representatives' dedication to their constituents. But he said that the issues facing the council, such as an increasingly apathetic student body, a tarnished reputation and a culture of individualism on the council are "something a code change or referendum will not fix." He encouraged members to consider "what (they) think this organization could be," and told the council of his confidence in the new UCS president and vice president.
Payne commended the Council for the work it has done over the past year. "I'm really proud of the growth that I've seen," he said.
Payne spoke of his confidence in newly elected UCS president Brian Bidadi '06. "I don't think he's going to do a good job - I know he's going to do a good job," Payne said.
Bidadi also addressed the council and spoke of his goals for the next year and the council's "ability to change Brown for years in the future." He said he would like to continue the "tradition of student life improvement," established this year with ideas and improvements such as a winter J-term and summer storage, and that he would like UCS to be "an open student government with face-to-face interaction with our students."
Bidadi told The Herald that he will not implement Payne's Campus Region Plan, the only major piece of the outgoing president's original election platform that he said he did not accomplish this year.
Payne said he did not feel that he had enough support to bring the plan, which he believed was misunderstood by students to be "another layer of bureaucracy," to life.
Bidadi said he believes that "the spirit behind it was getting to know the students," and he hopes to improve this interaction with regular dorm rounds and more polling through WebCT.
Payne said he was proud of his work on Brown First exemptions for student groups and elections reform, both major parts of his original platform.
At the meeting, UCS also passed two resolutions. The first was an anti-telemarketing resolution, brought to the council by Herald Opinions Editor Ari Savitzky '06, which, according to the language of the resolution, encourages the University to "recognize students' right to privacy" and "urges the University to withhold all student information (campus phone and box numbers) from credit card companies and telemarketers."
Savitzky urged the council to pass the resolution at this final meeting to ensure it was in place before new telephone numbers are distributed for the 2005-2006 academic year.
The council also passed a resolution to promote a campus center to Category 1 status on the University table of needs, which is used in the University's campaign to raise funds. A Category 1 need is considered to be of immediate importance and is explained as such to potential donors.
Two weeks ago, President Ruth Simmons presented the current draft of the table of needs, which, based on input from previous years, requests a fitness center as a Category 1 need and classifies a campus center as a less-immediate Category 2 need. The UCS resolution requests that a fitness center remain a Category 1 need as well.
Emily Blatter '07, chair of the Academic and Administrative Affairs Committee, presented recommendations on advising that the AAA committee had accumulated over the course of the year. Recommendations include the "designation of at least four members of the University as class advisers to follow a class throughout its four years," "creating a centralized list of all advisers within the University that includes area of expertise, department, job title and office hours," "research-based advising" and "open and more accessible advising files between advisers," according to the language of the recommendations.
Michael Morgenstern '08 presented recommendations compiled by UCS's Internal Reform Task Force. The recommendations dealt with council climate, meeting structure, mentoring, shifting the focus from individual to group projects, redefinition and creation of positions, and elections, among many other issues.
Cummings, who called the document "precocious," said that "this document has the potential to be an effectual one if put into the right hands."
The Student Activities Committee also made recommendations for changes that will affect category status and group accountability. The SA committee also presented several groups to the council for de-constitution, three of which were present at the meeting to present their reasons for maintaining their status as Category III groups.
The Higher Keys, the oldest coed a cappella group on campus, will receive a hearing on their de-constitution, as is mandated according to the UCS code after a group submits a written petition. This potential de-constitution is a result of a failure to submit a required budget to the Undergraduate Finance Board for two consecutive years as well as the possession of an outside bank account, which is prohibited of categorized student groups.
Jackie Chen '06, who has been business manager of the group this year and last, said that the group was not aware of its Category III status or the bank account rule. She said the Keys did not receive notification that they were required to submit a budget and believed their status to be Category II. The group will receive a hearing, and if de-constituted, may apply to be constituted at the beginning of the next academic year.
The National Society of Black Engineers and the Brown Flying Club were both placed on a probationary period as Category II groups from their previous status as Category III. This period will last until they show greater community impact, a requirement for status as a Category III group.
