Council Votes To Subsidize Parties in Dorm Rooms

In an attempt to jump-start the College’s party scene, the Undergraduate Council will begin funding as many as 12 undergraduate room parties each weekend for the rest of the fall semester.

“This will give students incentives to host more events on campus,” said council Vice President Jessica R. Stannard Friel ’04. “There are too many complaints that there is not enough going on.”

Students who host parties in their rooms on a Friday or Saturday night are eligible to receive $100 from the council.

After throwing the party, the hosts will fill out a form, asking the council to sponsor their party.

In order to receive the money, students must have sent an invitation over their House e-mail list.

Their party must have attracted at least 50 revelers over the course of the night.

Would-be hosts are required to provide party snacks and beverages in order to have their fetes funded.

But students hoping to lure fellow-partyers to their rooms will have to act quickly. Only 13 College-approved party nights remain in the fall semester,

Yale’s undergraduate council already funds room parties, according to members of the council.

The council also voted to recommend that College administrators change the deadline of weekend room party hours from 1 a.m. to 2 a.m.

In a survey conducted by the council in 2001, 90 percent of students favored the extension of room party hours.

At last night’s meeting, the council also approved its fall grant package. This semester, the council will spend over $20,000 to fund 127 student group projects ranging from those of the Harvard Texas Club to the Kuumba Singers.

The average amount of each council grant will be $172.

The council allocated the largest amount of grant money to the Collective, a group based in Quincy House which hosts weekly concerts.

Changes in the by-laws of the council’s election commission were unanimously approved by the council.

In December’s presidential election, students will be allowed to campaign during the petition period, when they must collect 100 student signatures in order to have their names put on the ballot.

This is a change from previous years, when potential candidates were not allowed to start officially campaigning until after they turned in their signatures.

“We may restrict the type of campaigning,” said Election Commission Chair David I. Monteiro ’04.

But prospective candidates will likely be able to talk to The Crimson during the restricted campaign period, according to Monteiro.

—Staff Writer Ebonie D. Hazle can be reached at hazle@fas.harvard.edu.