Mittal displeased with drop in student traffic at Levering

After hearing the formal resignation of Sophomore Class President Bob Alleman, Student Council (StuCo) committee members presented their reports. Noteworthy was the news that Manish Gala, Student Council Secretary, had arranged the opening of the back gym in the athletic center.

StuCo Executive President Anuj Mittal mentioned that Levering has experienced a drop in student traffic, perhaps due to the attention being lavished on the new recreation center. While there have been movements to reorganize Levering into more of a student union, he acknowledged that not much has been going on towards this end. "There's a lot of talk...it just seems ridiculous that there's nothing that's being done right now." He went on to say he felt "complete disenchantment" with the way the project is being handled, and that Dean of Student Life Susan Boswell has agreed to look into the situation.

Freshman Representative Charles Reyner was commended for his work on the exam reserves project. Currently, certain student groups have what is considered by the Student Council to be an unfair academic advantage. These groups have collections of old exams that are made accessible to those within the groups. In order to promote academic fairness, an attempt is being made to give all students access to old exams. While the Curriculum Board rejected the idea and said that professors cannot officially be forced to release previous exams, the Student Council is working to create an on-line database of exams provided by students.

The report from Executive Treasurer Noel DeSantos revealed that the financial situation of the Student Activities Commission and the Student Council is superior to that of last year this time.

"No matter how numerous the wells," DeSantos asserted, "the bounty of the ocean will never be exhausted."

Freshman Representative Manu Sharma reported on the status of J-CASH expansion. He plans to talk to Student Advantage, whose job it is to promote J-CASH to merchants. Currently, 11 off-campus businesses accept J-CASH as a form of payment. Hopkins students will soon be receiving pamphlets in their mailboxes to increase awareness about which businesses these are.

Mittal spoke about the status with Internet use in the library. While jacks were put in four years ago, the library is waiting for an authorization system to be implemented that will be able to confirm the identity of the user, how long the user is on-line, and the location of the user.

As a security measure, a firewall needs to be created for the library. Some type of Internet registration system should be put into place by May, at which point a summer pilot program will begin. Starting in the fall of 2002, students will be able to buy a wireless card and access the library's jacks.

Negotiations are underway regarding the future of the on-campus cafes. Gilman, the MSE library and the Mattin Center all house cafes run by the same company, which potentially could face replacement. Ideas are being discussed at an upcoming meeting in the AMR I multipurpose room.

Board of Elections (BOE) campaigning is underway. The candidates for Vice President for Institutional Relations (VPIR) and Treasurer are both running unopposed. On Thursday at 8 p.m. there will be a meet-and-greet the candidates meeting.

Voting will take place this Monday from noon until 9 p.m. at the library, AMRs, Wolman and Recreation Center. The first 1,000 voters will get free Krispy Kremes.

Senior class President Stephen Goutman announced that the senior class voted last week on the gift it will give to Hopkins upon its graduation. The gift will be a game room for Levering, and seniors are asked to each donate $20.02 or whatever they can afford to finance this. Goutman also remarked on Thursday's successful E-level gathering. He said it was "nice to see people having fun at e-level again" and that it brought back memories of freshman year for current seniors.

T-shirts are on their way ? 650 of them ? for students who would like to greet the upcoming lacrosse festivities by wearing something that says, "Princeton still sucks."

StuCo also voted on two funding request, both of which passed. The first was a request for $500, to be used for a Founder's Day event.

Fiji, through the person of Fiji finance chair Jarrodd Bernstein, requested $600 to pay for the DJ for the Islander, a Homecoming party held in President Brody's garden. This event has been going on in some form for 20 years, and, according to Bernstein, is the only major University event mentioned in the Barron's College Guide. This year's event may include a moon bounce, jousting and dollar drafts.

"It's not a party in the conventional sense, like people are going to be doing keg stands at it," Bernstein reassured Council members.

Proceeds are given to charitable organizations, and this year money will be used to support the mission of Bill Faria and Josh Kampf, former Hopkins students who are walking across the United States in support of the families who had members die in the Sept. 11 attack. The two, who are currently in Albuquerque, are carrying 4,000 American flags that will be presented to the families when the hikers arrive in New York on Sept. 11, 2002. Council members, citing the hard work of the Fiji members and the long tradition of the Islander party, passed the request for financing with no dissents.