ASPC President Brian Andrews ’01 announced that he has been asked to nominate students to the Committee on Social Responsibility, which makes decisions regarding financial investments made by the college based on ethical criteria. Senators are to consider candidates, spread the word and report back to Andrews.

Freshman Class Representative Mike Rush ’04 discussed his earlier proposal to install vending machines dispensing laundry detergent in the laundry rooms as well as the possibility of adding change machines. He also raised the question of whether machines could be card-operated and paid for with Flex Dollars. Dean Quinley said the latter was not possible because Flex Dollars can only pay for food items.

Andrews mentioned that he has spoken to Director of the Campus Center Neil Gerard about this issue, and that six machines are to be ordered for a trial run and placed in the laundry rooms in Walker, Walton Commons, Clark I, Mudd Blaisdell, Oldenborg and Harwood.

Gerard is trying to work out a deal with the vending service that the college already uses, but given the low profitability, they may not go for it. He said that it would certainly be possible for the college to operate the machines themselves, but cited the example of the dispensing machines in saying that they could turn out to be more trouble than they are worth.

Gerard went on to discuss the problems involved in putting change machines in the laundry rooms. The current change machine service used by the college will not put change machines in laundry rooms; they have stipulated that machines must be kept in public, staffed spaces.

Rush asked if vending cards similar to or the same as those used in copy machines could be used to operate washers and dryers. Quinley responded that such a proposal has been raised in the past. It had been determined that the machines we have are mechanical, not electric, so that to install any sort of card system would be a huge expense.

On behalf of South Campus Senator Adam Rick ’02, Andrews introduced concern regarding the presidential stipend that the ASPC President receives. The questions were raised as to whether the president should continue to receive a stipend, if all members of Senate should receive one or if none should. Andrews noted that Rick would like to see the presidential stipend divided up and distributed among the discretionary accounts of the senators. The issue will be discussed at the Senate retreat, which is this weekend.

Dean Quinley announced that next year when Frary is under renovation, 35 parking spaces in the lot behind Frary will be lost. While arrangements are already in the works to designate the area along Walker Wall as official Pomona parking, parking difficulties are anticipated. Quinley mentioned the possibility of using part of the rugby field, but noted that this would be unlikely and unfair.

Commissioner of Campus Events Julie Kern ’01 pointed out that there are always lots of spots by the Wash. North Campus Senator Grayson Schaffer ’01 suggested that the area directly north of Walker near the basketball court be used. Quinley said the space was not available because some dining services will be operating out of Walker next year.

During the Frary renovation, there will be a tented area on the east side of Walker, where students can sit. The food service area will be in Walker Lounge. Most food will be prepared at Frank and brought up there. Quinley cited an interest in preserving North Campus social life while Frary is closed as the driving force behind this arrangement.

Schaffer asked if there had been any student input in the development of this plan. Quinley said that it came from the task force assembled at the beginning of the year to examine dining options during Frary’s closure, and that there are about 15 students on that task force. Membership on the task force was open to the entire student body at the beginning of the school year.

Schaffer asked what was wrong with North Campus residents eating at Collins, and Quinley said that while students are allowed to eat at Collins, CMC does not want to take on the burden of feeding half of Pomona’s campus every day.

Andrews reminded senators that the issue at hand was the parking shortage. He mentioned that possible measures include limiting North Campus parking to upperclassmen, or even leaving the issue for next year’s Senate. Senior Class President Lauren Shawn ’01 pointed out that the parking situation on North Campus is already bad, and they need to start taking action now.

ASPC Vice President Ellen Lin ’01 suggested that if parking areas are to be designated it should be by where students live and not by year of graduation. Commissioner of Environmental Affairs Pam Grewal ’03 said that parking permits distributed at the beginning of the year could be coded to help enforce such regulations if instituted. Junior Class Representative Jake Oken-Berg ’02 pointed out the inherent flaws of such a measure, such as short-term parking while one student is visiting another, etc. Grewal responded that parking area assignments needn’t be strict, as long as they serve as a guideline.

Schaffer said that guidelines would not be enough, saying that 35 is a significant number of spaces, and something concrete needs to be done. Commissioner of Academic Affairs Richard Sun ’01 pointed out that the spots behind Frary are unnecessarily big and asked if they could be repainted. Quinley believes such a measure has been investigated before and that legal requirements made it unfeasible. However, she is willing to look into it again.

Oken-Berg said that people need to suck it up and just park by the Wash even though it’s a little inconvenient. Shawn pointed out that this presented a safety issue because it could mean more people walking across campus by themselves late at night.

An ASPC resolution drafted by Grewal stating the Senate’s opposition to the building of Keck Graduate Institute on the Bernard Field Station was circulated. Andrews noted that the Senate has not invited a representative from KGI to come speak before the Senate, and that maybe they should do so before approving the position statement. Grewal responded that in her experience KGI has refused comment on the issue.

Sports Commissioner Nick Grudin ’01 pointed out that there was some very strong language in the resolution and wondered if they really knew enough about the situation to make such a statement. Bits of language were fine-tuned to soften it.

Oken-Berg was adamant that the Senate at least try to get a KGI representative to come speak before approving the resolution, if only as a show of good faith. Others felt that they could approve the resolution now anyway and still try to hear from a KGI representative later. Grudin made a motion to vote on whether or not to approve the measure at that meeting; the vote was tied and broken by Andrews, who decided they should wait until they’ve at least made some attempt to hear the KGI position firsthand.

Schaffer has called the director of the physical plant and learned about measures that can be taken to reduce power consumption. Such measures include reducing usage of halogen lamps and computer monitors by turning them off when not in use. Although heat is made by natural gas, the delivery system is electric. He noted that heat could be cut off during the day.

Oken-Berg asked if changes could be made in dorms under renovation anyway, such as Mudd Blaisdell. He suggested that bathroom lights could be hooked up to motion detectors and stressed the advantages of installing on/off switches on heaters in individual rooms.

A motion was made, seconded and passed to have further conservation efforts investigated, and a subcommittee consisting of Grewal, Andrews and Commissioner of Residence Halls and Food Liz Rodriguez ’03 was appointed to oversee the investigation.

Schaffer is currently working on drawing up some new by-laws for the ASPC Budget Committee. The new by-laws will include guidelines for evaluating requests and to whom funds should be directed. Lin mentioned that by-laws for dealing with requests to the alcohol fund, which is also administered by the budget committee, are also under review.

Lin reported that the SAC has decided to leave the wording of the changes to the smoking policy open; it will therefore be up to Gerard and his staff to handle the issue of smoking in the Campus Center. Andrews noted that smoking will probably be banned from the forum outside the ballroom, the Ulf Walk, and possibly from the tables in the courtyard. However, nothing is final yet.