The Undergraduate Council of Students received a draft of a resolution addressing pay for graduate students and heard a presentation on the implementation and pricing of Internet Protocol Television at its general body meeting Wednesday evening in Faunce House.
A draft of the resolution was distributed to council members for review, and voting on the resolution is planned for next week. The resolution supports "a policy to provide all graduate students with equal compensation for equal work" in the form of tuition remission, health insurance, health insurance fees and a stipend for teaching assistants, research assistants, community directors and proctors. The resolution also backs "a University-wide system of support for master's students in order that five to ten percent of all incoming master's students will be fully funded on the basis of need."
Following distribution of the resolution draft, Sara Gentile '09, chair of the Admissions and Student Services Committee, gave a presentation on the history, implementation and pricing of the campus-wide IPTV system. The primary purpose of the presentation was to provide council members with information about the system so they could effectively answer students' questions during dorm rounds, which are scheduled to begin Sunday night.
Gentile explained that IPTV was first implemented last year as a pilot program. Over the summer, UCS members encouraged the University to permanently purchase a 50-channel package from Video Furnace, the company that provides IPTV. Administrators decided to purchase a 30-channel package, which will be up and running by the end of the semester.
UCS members also encouraged University officials to purchase set-top boxes, a piece of hardware that would allow students to watch IPTV channels on a regular TV set. However, Video Furnace has not yet begun selling this equipment. The issue will be explored further next semester.
Gentile also explained the IPTV pricing system. This year, the University will spend $180,000 to purchase the 30-channel package. The University also spends $40,000 per year on maintenance of the system. Each channel comes with a $5,000 charge for computing hardware and software and costs $1,200 for maintenance. There is also a per-channel fee based on the content of the channel, which can vary from $0 for certain channels to $20,000 for the New England Sports Network and $99,000 for HBO.
After the IPTV presentation and reports from UCS President John Gillis '07 and UCS Vice President Tristan Freeman '07, the council heard reports from committees. Members of the Academic and Administrative Affairs Committee have narrowed down a list of potential courses for the upcoming winter session, which is called "January@Brown," from 17 to 11. Members of the committee are currently interviewing potential instructors.
The Admissions and Student Services Committee announced that a program where students can borrow board games from the Student Activities Office will begin next week.
Brian Becker '09, chair of the Campus Life Committee, announced that Brown will host the spring conference of the Ivy Council, which will take place from April 13 to April 15. He also confirmed that on-campus housing will be available to students participating in the January@Brown program.
UCS also categorized two new student groups. The Kendo Club, which does Japanese martial arts, was given Category II status, and the Climbing Wall Club, which is devoted to getting a climbing wall built on campus, was given Category I status.
Michael Glassman '09, chair of the Communications Committee, announced that a WebCT poll will open to students tomorrow and will close sometime next week. Dorm rounds are also scheduled to begin Monday night and end Thursday night.
UCS also approved the appointments of Libby DeLucia '09 and Jon Magaziner '07 to the Environment and Energy Advisory Committee.
