The arrival of Week 10 brought with it the last A.S. Council meeting of 2010, and my last council meeting until further notice. Public input included a request from members of Students for Civil Rights in Iran for council to pass the resolution calling for the release of student activists being held in Iran. The DJs and Vinylphiles Club requested funding for a Winter Quartet event titled “Something Awesome.”
The initial budget presented to council was revised to total to $12, 458. The increase in costs, according to head events planner Chris Perry and president Jordan Clarno, is due to higher security costs and police presence. Since the event will take place in PC Plaza, Clarno said that it would be more expensive to staff security professionals in an outside venue.
AVP of Student Organizations Carli Thomas mentioned that the event last year totaled to nearly half the cost that DVC is asking for this year, though Clarno mentioned that estimated attendance, which went up from 900 to 1400 people. The budget for “Something Awesome” was eventually modified to $10,493, and approved despite three objections from A.S. President Wafa Ben Hassine, VP External Affairs Michael Lam and newly appointed Social Sciences Senator Rena Zoabi.
Special Presentation time brought a talk from the Director of Academic Computing Services Jeff Henry as well as the Instructional Technology Vision & Funding Committee. The Committee discussed the issue of instituting a $5-per-unit technology fee to meet the rising costs of keeping campus up-to-date with technological features in classrooms. These services include podcasts, computer labs, and websites such as WebCT.
AVP of College Affairs Leonard Bobbitt expressed concern over connecting the fee with the number of units that a student takes, therefore creating an imbalance between the amount full time students pay with the amount part-time students would pay for services they may take advantage of.
AVP of Enterprise Operations Brian McEuen gave a presentation about the up-and-coming Triton Outfitters, the newest A.S. enterprise. Triton Outfitters will be starting up as mobile store instead of having a location in Price Center, saving $80,800. This mobile store would be placed through tents at the farmers markets, Sun God Festival and the vendor fairs that take place every quarter. McEuen hopes this approach will build a solid customer based and allow for expansion in the future. The enterprise hopes to expand to Price Center within five years. The A.S. piggy bank just got really happy.
Council returned to the resolution calling for human rights and freedom in education in Iran. With numerous other amendments proposed and passed, the resolution no longer had any contentious issues. The resolution failed. Campuswide Senator Michael Raimondi expressed disappointment that council tried to end the discussion early during the special presentation about the fee increase for technology on campus.
So with that meeting, I bid A.S. Council farewell. Our love/hate affair is over for now. But do not fret, I will be around. Watching. Waiting. Hoping.
