Calendar reform on USG agenda
Anticipating a Tuesday faculty meeting addressing possible changes to the University's academic calendar, the USG debated its role in the process yesterday night and created a survey for distribution to the undergraduate body to gauge students' views on the issue.The faculty is currently considering two possible academic calendars ? dubbed Calendars D and E ? that extend the academic portion of semesters to 13 weeks and rearrange or eliminate breaks, among other changes."It is of critical importance that student opinion is provided to the administrators and faculty in charge of making decisions," USG president Rob Biederman '08 said, adding that the USG will not necessarily take a stand for or against either of the new calendars.To obtain an initial assessment of what students like about the current academic calendar and what they want changed, USG academics chair Sarah Breslow '08 created a seven-question survey that will be emailed to undergraduates today."Every time the faculty votes on something," Breslow said, "having student opinion on hand in the form of concrete data is the best way to ensure student viewpoints are taken into account." Breslow is also a photography editor for The Daily Princetonian.Because neither the USG nor any other students will have a voting role in the faculty's decision, Biederman said, one of the ways to influence faculty members is to produce numerical results reflecting student opinion."If people unanimously, or at least in majority, come out in favor of one option or another," Breslow said, the faculty may be more inclined to vote in favor of that selection.The preliminary results of the survey, which poses several questions to students regarding their preferred schedules for breaks, academics and exams, will ideally be presented at Tuesday's meeting of the Committee on the Course of Study, Breslow said."There's no specific role for the students [in this process]," Biederman said, "so we need to fill the vacuum and take the initiative."Also discussed during the meeting were changes to the Projects Board charter and the status of princetonplus.com, a website that provides students with information about discounts in the Princeton region."The goal of the project is to get every retail outlet and restaurant in the area to list their services, contact information and any information concerning student discounts," U-Councilor Vince Ley '08 said of the site.While the website is currently operating only in a limited capacity, USG vice president Josh Weinstein '09 said, "we already have participation from 20 Nassau Street merchants ... and we expect more merchants to follow suit once the program is fully established."The website should be fully operational within the next few weeks, Weinstein added.Projects Board co-chair Will Wallace '09 also presented an updated charter for the Board, which changed the title of "Board Advocates" to "Board Liaisons," established explicit limits on funding support for student group banquets and eliminated the express prohibition on paying for food at campus events.