Council Finds $2,400 in Funds

Every time the Undergraduate Council looks under the cushions of its proverbial couch, it finds money. At last night's meeting, the council voted to spend a newly discovered $2,400 on a brand new computer.

The funds, originally allocated to a previous student government called the 'student council' in 1954, were rolled over to the council when it became the de facto student government in the 1960s.

This year's discovery follows last year's announcement that, because of accounting slip-ups, the council had $40,000 in assets of which they were previously unaware.

Some council members said they were confused about the sudden appearance of the money.

"Have we just been sitting on this money for 45 years?" asked Winthrop house representative Jonathan X. Gruenhut '00.

Technically, the money does not belong to the council. However, as the council is now the official student government of the college, it can spend the money with the approval of the dean of the College.

Council Treasurer Sterling P. A. Darling said he heard about the money from Susan T. Cooke, the College's coordinator of student activities, earlier this year.

"It's always possible that a former treasurer has heard of [the money], but I haven't," Darling said.

In other council news, Michael D. Shumsky '00 announced that the Committee on House Life (CHL)--a body made up of five council members and four House Masters chaired by Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68--had voted to endorse universal key-card access.

A final decision awaits the approval of each of the twelve House committees, however, so Shumsky encouraged council representatives to lobby their House committees to endorse the decision.

If all the House committees support CHL's decision, universal keycard access to all the upper-class houses--an enterprise that has required over four years of effort--may become a reality as early as December.

According to Shumsky, last year's survey of college and house life shows that over 90 percent of students support universal keycard access.

When asked why Lewis wanted the approval of House committees when CHL had voted unanimously to approve universal keycard access, Shumsky said he "had no idea."

"I guess they wanted to let the voices of the HoCos speak," he said.

The council's final business was a declaration of war on Yale University by Harvard University, which was approved with only one dissent and two abstentions.

"Whereas Yale sucks" begins the declaration, which concludes with a pledge to "dedicate our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor" to the cause.