This week’s Student Senate meeting was fraught with contention over a special allocation for the Neville Co-op apartments and diction issues in Senate's Freedom of Information Policy. Combined, these two discussions accounted for almost two-thirds of the total meeting time.

Mark Egerman, a representative from the Neville Co-op and senior computer science and history student, said he hoped to bring more unity to the Oakland off-campus community by creating a lounge area in the apartment complex. Hypothetically, a lounge would be a good place for organizations with members from the University of Pittsburgh to meet as a central location between the two colleges.

“This is directly from concerns that students have about the lack of off-campus meeting places,” said Funding and Recognition (F&R) chair Megan Flocken regarding the Co-op’s request for $500 to renovate the basement of their 22-person apartment. The total estimated cost for renovating the currently unusable basement is about $50,000, and the Co-op has already raised between $7,000-12,000 through Housing Services and fundraising.

“It doesn’t seem like a very useful allocation,” argued Senator Steven Kling. “We’re basically refurbishing a basement for where students live. I don’t think that’s something we should do.”

Many senators agreed that helping to pay for new furniture and carpeting was out of the scope of the Student Senate.

Addressing a general uneasiness over whether Oakland students would visit a lounge in the Neville Co-op, Senator Kristina Wiltsee asserted, “The Co-op is really good for promoting off-campus community.”

Another concern of many senators was that because the Neville apartments are rented from a local Pittsburgh landlord, Carnegie Mellon students may not benefit from the allocation for more than a few years. With a little under $12,000 left in the special allocations fund, senators took care to make their decisions very carefully so that the Student Senate would not overspend its funding. Housing Services has nine years left on a ten-year lease of the Co-op building.

In the end, the vote was evenly split and the motion failed to pass.

In another debate that lasted well over an hour and a half, Senate revised its Freedom of Information Policy. The former policy wording was ambiguous about whether student organizations or Student Senate should be contacted to obtain financial records and whether Student Senate is required to search out any and all documents that are “available” to it.

“I don’t think [the “available” clause] is something we can live up to,” said Dan Papasian, the senator who proposed the amendments to the policy.

The policy is now clearer on if and how students can access Student Senate documents. According to these policy revisions, students will be able to request to see any document “in the possession of” the Senate, as long as it is not formally classified, and should contact Senate for its records regarding student organizations.

On a lighter note for the general body, the Activities Board requested funding to bring Adam West, best known for his role as the original Batman in the 1960s television series, to Carnegie Mellon in April. Senators asked if West would be coming in the Batmobile and if Catwoman could also be brought for West’s planned lecture on television broadcasting.

Senator Ed Ryan inquired if AB still planned on bringing Bill Nye the Science Guy to campus, as they had suggested earlier in the year.

“Bill Nye is much more expensive to get than Batman,” replied AB Chair Chris Smoak.

Ryan said he would not vote for the allocation for West, in the hope that Bill Nye could be brought to campus sometime in the future.

One of the more serious comments of the discussion, made by Papasian, was that Senate should be more serious about bringing West to campus because it would cost Senate $3,000. This comment was only taken with superficial seriousness by Ryan: “Is this to imply, Dan, that you have a conflict of interest with Batman?”

Regardless of the cost, the allocation was granted.

Many other allocations were passed without dissent. Spirit was granted $1,040 to help fund its annual fashion show. CMUTV was given $2,750 to help pay for cameras and associated equipment for their coverage of Carnival’s buggy competitions; this year, CMUTV plans a web broadcast for off-campus alumni and the creation of a Carnival DVD, in addition to its regular broadcast of the festivities on their campus television network. Lastly, the University Rowing Club was given an allocation to pay for personal flotation devices, a new safety requirement of the boating house where members practice and race.

The Ski Club was given funded recognition in light of their high participation rates during this past winter’s skiing trips and their desire to hold tuning workshops and compete in tournaments next year. HAPAs, a new cultural organization designed specifically for half-Asians, was granted non-funded recognition.

Other announcements were made during the ex-officio reports:

The Activities Board is looking for ideas for the end-of-the-school-year bash, Fiesta de Primavera.

Applications for the Fraternity Awards and for the Leadership Intern position in Student Affairs are both due by mid-April.

Upcoming events include a Town Hall meeting on April 12 to discuss bringing athletic equipment into the Danforth Lounge.

4/3/04 Correction: The word 'only' was removed from the paraphrase of Senator Papasian's discussion. The original sentence read: One of the more serious comments of the discussion, made by Papasian, was that Senate should be more serious about bringing West to campus because it would only cost Senate $3,000.