USG passes amendments, hears workshop results

Weinstein told the Senate that he hoped to give everyone “a sense of where we are and where we’re going” by explaining his goals for the USG. Weinstein acknowledged that rushing into the vote last week may have been premature and hoped that he could clarify the intent behind the changes in a presentation.

Confusion about the proposed amendments caused the Senate to postpone a vote until last night’s meeting.

Weinstein’s presentation outlined his aim to “understand, clarify, streamline, solidify and expand” the USG’s structure and goals, including Campus Club, a redesigned Point website and Taste of Prospect.

U-Council chair Sarah Langberg ’09, who last week had brought up concerns about the amendments regarding the appointment process for U-Council Chair, acknowledged last night that “a lot of thought and conversation and a lot of effort has been put into [the amendments to the constitution].”

Weinstein said that changing the USG constitution is “not something that happens every year. There’s a real reason and a real need as to why we’re doing it.”

The amendments were the first step toward fulfilling the goals of “improving campus life, attention to detail [and] making people happy,” Weinstein said.

Alcohol Coalition Committee

Two Alcohol Coalition Committee (ACC) chairs, Chloe Angyal ’09 and Laurie Frey ’09 presented the progress and goals of the Committee to the Senate. The ACC held its first workshop to address high-risk drinking last Friday.

“The turnout was a big surprise,” Angyal said. Around 80 students attended the event.

The Committee will hold two more workshops this month. While the workshop last Friday addressed reasons behind high-risk drinking, the next workshops will discuss “Structures that affect high-risk drinking” and “Responsibilities regarding high-risk drinking,” respectively.

“We are dying to hear from [students],” Angyal said. Frey added, “The University is really interested in hearing what the students have to say. It’s really important for students to be there for that.”

The workshops contribute to a final ACC report with recommendations for the University. As part of its research effort, the ACC will examine how other institutions of higher education handle on-campus drinking.

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We have “[gathered] best practices from other universities and how they’ve looked at alcohol, what’s worked and what hasn’t worked,” Angyal said.

The report, originally scheduled to be released in December, will now be finished in May.

Toilet paper

Several members of the USG pushed for two-ply toilet paper in all student dorms and administrative buildings. Supporters of the higher-quality bathroom tissue included Class of 2011 senator Nick DiBerardino ’11 and U-Councilor Rohan Joshi ’08.

DiBerardino did note, however, that a Princeton pilot program from 1999 that installed two-ply toilet paper in one dormitory and one administrative building for one month found that drain-clogging and the program’s cost were major problems.

Future meetings will address the relationship between two-ply toilet paper and sustainability.