StuCo wants more security

President Anuj Mittal spoke about the need for increased off-campus security at this week's Student Council (StuCo) meeting.

More than half of the student body lives off of the Homewood campus, and with continued Hopkins expansion, the area that Hopkins students live in will spread even further. An investigation of where crime is taking place will be a useful tool in dealing with security issues, according to Mittal. He added that hiring more security guards could ultimately be necessary. since there is a question of whether this would be difficult for Hopkins to do because hiring more guards could mean that they would need to unionize. The security issue will persist, as StuCo is striving to create four-year housing for undergraduates, meaning that the area of Baltimore containing University Housing would expand and need increased protection.

Executive Treasurer Noel DeSantos gave his financial report. He will be meeting with Dean of Students Susan Boswell on March 20 to discuss the budget for next year. There will be budget hearings all this week, in the Mattin Center from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for Class A groups of student activities. The new budget will be due on Tuesday, March 26, at 5 pm. The Student Activities Commission (SAC) Executive Board will be working on the budget on March 30. In finances, currently the SAC Contingency has $23,992.18, up $9,942.95 from last year at this time. The StuCo Contingency has $2,907.65, up $1,559.70 from last year.

Junior Representative Chris Cunico spoke about the possibility of being involved in a new project organized by Assistant Dean of Academic Advising John Bader. This would be a Web site project that would include a list of the "Top Ten Classes at Hopkins," along with pictures of and interviews with the professors. As of now, this is "still up in the air."

Senior President Stephen Goutman announced that seniors only have 73 days left of school. A senior event was being held later in the evening at McFadden's. "Seniors apparently like to drink on Tuesdays," Goutman said. "I don't get this, but they do." A senior-faculty barbecue is also in the works.

Sophomore President Simone Chen said that the sophomore class is working on a "freshman facts book" that will aim to make freshman life easier. Their goal is to make the book available by the end of the year to send to freshman over the summer. Senior Representative Samantha Kanner suggested that the sophomores consult with the Compendium organizers.

The freshman class is in the process of making plans for a Battle of the Bands.

Jennifer Smolin, treasurer of the Jewish Students Association (JSA), was at the StuCo meeting to seek approval for JSA constitutional changes. Changes included job descriptions, the date that the board position starts, the date that elections take place and a clarification of JSA's relationship with Hillel. Hillel is an international organization, but the JSA wants to be sure that it can ensure it will continue to be a student-run organization. StuCo approved the changes to the constitution. DeSantos mentioned that, in general, the council is supportive of organizations making elections earlier in the year. This allows current officers time to work with elected officers to smooth the transition of power.

Sarah Gibson, the founder of the J Magazine, sought approval for a constitution that would formalize her magazine's existence as a Johns Hopkins student group. The J Magazine, Gibson explained, intends to allow for writers, editors and artists to work together and display their work with the option to revise and create for publication. StuCo approved the magazine's constitution.

Goutman presented a resolution for the creation of an investigative committee to look into the process of the recent StuCo Executive Board elections. He cast the sole vote in favor of the resolution and it failed to pass.