Bowdoin Student Government's (BSG) said yes to hip-hop, no to hydration. At Wednesday's BSG meeting, members cast votes on last week's proposal to replace a water fountain in Hawthorne-Longfellow Library (H-L Library), and a new proposal to co-fund the annual Hip-Hop Concert for accepted minority students during this year's "Experience Weekend."
While the proposal to co-fund the annual Hip-Hop Concert was passed by a large margin, last week's hydration station proposal failed to gain approval.
The hydration station measure was the first vote on the agenda. Having failed to come up with concrete figures on the cost of fixing the current water fountain or replacing it with a new one, members proceeded under the assumption that installing a hydration station cost more than all other options.
The proposal to replace the water fountain with a hydration station failed resoundingly, though several BSG members nodded in agreement when At-Large Representative John Connolly '11 said, "I think we should wait until the end of the year [to consider this measure] when we may have a surplus."
The consensus over whether or not to join several other student groups and multiple College departments in funding the annual Hip-Hop Concert during "Experience Weekend" was more positive. A sum of $750 was requested by the event's organizers.
"As a former host, people do leave [Experience Weekend] speaking about this and saying that this is something that they will take into account [when deciding whether or not to attend Bowdoin]" said Vice President for Student Affairs Addison Boyland '10. Most members agreed that the Hip-Hop Concert was worth funding.
While there were several complaints that the event was not likely to be well attended as it will conflict with Relay for Life, these comments were quickly retracted after BSG President Mike Dooley '10 reminded the group that, "we're bringing kids from all over the country here. This is probably one of the few nights that we can [have this concert]."
The proposal ultimately passed by a vote of 19-1-2. BSG Treasurer and Student Activities Funding Committee (SAFC) Chair Kyle Dempsey '11, abstained as he was unconvinced that the organizers of the event had exhausted every other avenue when looking for funding before coming to the BSG.
Measures allocating funds passed by the BSG must receive final approval from the SAFC. It is still unclear, threfore, whether BSG will be able to co-fund the "Experience Weekend" Hip-Hop Concert.
Head of Safety and Security Randy Nichols was present at the BSG meeting for a discussion on issues related to alcohol consumption on campus. Referring to the 20 alcohol-related hospitalizations this year, Nichols told the BSG that "we could have stopped every single one of those transports," and went on to explain the importance of stopping one's friends from drinking when they have "had too much."
But Nichols asked that students not overstate the significance of the rise in the number of transports, saying that it is part of larger national trend.
"Nation-wide, this is a trend that is being seen. Just google it," he said.
Nichols does not believe that Bowdoin's "drinking culture" has changed.
"This year we've had one OUI. Last year I think we had three. The year before that I think we had five. And don't get me wrong, one is too many, but there are peaks and valleys," he said.
On the issue of adding a third Bowdoin Shuttle van on weekends, Nichols said that budget concerns made it impossible.
"Budget-wise, all we can do right now is run two shuttles Thursday, Friday and Saturday night. They run until three in the morning. Sometimes we get complaints [about long waits]."
Questions from BSG about how much it might cost to add another Shuttle van were directed to Fleet Scheduler JoJo Craig.
The end of this week's BSG meeting included preliminary discussions on whether or not to consider funding a free shuttle service from Portland International Jetport to Bowdoin after breaks. This proposal was looked favorably upon by many BSG's members, though no further action was taken.
Last week's BSG decision to subscribe to the Fox Soccer Channel (FSC) was upheld by the SAFC this week, and FSC programming will be available some time in the next few days.