Mahan Lays Out Plan for ‘Game’

Undergraduate Council President Matthew W. Mahan ’05 spelled out his plan for dealing with the heightened alcohol restrictions at this year’s Harvard-Yale game at the council’s second meeting of the year yesterday.

The council also passed its budget for this year.

Mahan said that his biggest concern following a meeting with House Committee (HoCo) chairs and University Hall officials last week about The Game is that separating the official student organization tailgates on Ohiri Field from the open admission areas on the Intramural fields will segregate the undergraduate population.

Mahan said he would push University Hall to have all tailgates—including private ones and those thrown by unofficial organizations such as final clubs and sororities—at the Ohiri location.

Mahan also said that the council will contract United Liquors to provide the refreshments for all official tailgates, and said he would advocate a system of carding rather than using wristbands.

In addition to discussing The Game, the council passed five bills at last night’s meeting, including a bill that set the council’s budget for the coming year.

The council’s 2004-2005 budget totals $367,465.66, compared to just $193,550 last year. The budget was inflated by the increase in the termbill fee students pay to the council. That fee rose from $35 to $60 and will rise to $75 next year. The council reserved $50,000 for paying off past debts, and allocated 67 percent of the remaining money to the Grants Fund, 31 percent to the Committee Fund and 2 percent to the Operations Fund.

Despite questions from council members about the extent of the council’s debt, Treasurer Clay T. Capp ’06 assured members that the debts—including good faith money owed following the 95 bounced checks over the summer—would not exceed $50,000.

“$50,000 is the highest reasonable estimate we could incur,” Capp said.

In order to increase financial accountability and transparency this year, the council passed a bill that will require a weekly statement of finances at council meetings, which will then be posted online for the general public. The bill will also make grant checks void after 60 days instead of allowing student groups five years to cash their checks.

Finance Committee chair Teo P. Nicolais ’06 and Campus Life Committee (CLC) chair Christina L. Adams ’06 successfully proposed an amendment to transfer $3,174.66 from the operations budget to the CLC fund after stating that approximately $93,000 of the $95,239.70 in the CLC’s budget was already tentatively allocated to major events and HoCos.

But Mahan said that the money for HoCos has not actually been allocated yet and that he expects the November concert and this month’s comedy show to bring enough revenue to partially offset costs.

Nicolais said that the extent to which the CLC will be crippled will depend on how much of the reserve fund the council maintains.

“It all depends on how large a portion of that we get back,” Nicolais said.

The council also awarded grant money totaling $10,010.82 last night, or 46 percent of the total grant money requested by student groups so far this fall.

In addition to granting money to student groups, the council passed a bill that will bring back the private party fund created last year.

The council will give up to eight private parties a week $100 each as long as the parties are properly registered with the College, well-advertised and provide food and non-alcoholic beverages. All council-sponsored parties will be posted on the council’s website.

—Staff writer Joshua P. Rogers can be reached at jprogers@fas.harvard.edu.