The Student Assembly passed three resolutions last night, including one calling for College representatives to lobby Congress to maintain student financial aid programs.
The Assembly also passed a resolution calling for the Office of Residential Life to redraw housing-priority numbers and a resolution asking the College to change its parking polices for students living in Greek houses.
Assembly President Rukmini Sichitiu '95 and Assembly Treasurer Ben Hill '98 sponsored the student-aid resolution, which passed unanimously.
The resolution described potential cuts in government-sponsored financial aid proposed by Congressional Republicans as a discriminatory burden that would decrease the diversity of the student body.
"The cuts would have very drastic effects on who comes to this College," Sichitiu said.
Pointing out that 50 percent of students receive financial assistance, Sichitiu said this issue does not only apply to minority groups.
The resolution strongly urges the College's Board of Trustees, College President James Freedman, the Financial Aid Office and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Karl Furstenberg to join with other Ivy League schools to lobby against the proposed cuts.
"We need as much government assistance as possible to put everyone through college," Assembly spokesman Brandon del Pozo '96 said.
He said cutting federal spending would force many students from low-income backgrounds to attend state or community colleges, many of which are under-funded, overcrowded and under-equipped to handle more students.
"We shouldn't deny a first-class education to someone who deserves it but has a poor father," del Pozo said.
Class of 1995 Vice President Hosea Harvey said the federal government's elimination of financial aid for foreign students three years ago "has affected a portion of our campus."
The housing resolution, sponsored by Assembly Vice President John Honovich '97, called for ORL to redraw priority numbers or help the Class of 1998 find housing for next Fall term.
Twelve students voted for the proposal, four voted against it and one Assembly member abstained from the vote.
The resolution asks the College to provide students with informational services about off-campus housing and help sophomores sublet off-campus apartments.
It also calls for the College to establish a committee by next fall to review the new housing policies and examine the possibility of creating new housing options.
"There are two main problems with the current housing plan. The whole sophomore class will be wait-listed and the proposal is an incentive for seniors to stay on campus all year," Honovich said.
Honovich discussed how Hanover landlords prefer leasing for a full year at a time, which is the duration for which most seniors are in residence.
"I agree this is a good plan. One class got screwed hard. We need to help them out," Assembly member Tim Young '96 said.
Honovich also attacked the way he thinks the housing plan will divide the campus.
"Seniors generally will live in more desirable dormitoriesand sophomores and freshmen will be in the least desirable," he said.
Assembly member Naj Haider '97 said he strongly opposed Honovich's proposal.
"I think [the current policy] is better than what we had before," he said. "The three steps [of Honovich' proposal] aren't that strong."
Haider said the College already provides sufficient information about off-campus housing to students and that ORL does enough to help those on the housing wait-list to sublet apartments.
Assembly member Michael Beckley '96 proposed to amend Honovich's resolution because he disagreed with asking ORL to redo the lottery.
"It sends a bad signal when the Assembly tell the administration to do things everyone knows is impossible," he said.
Honovich said although ORL probably will not redraw the priority numbers, requesting it shows the Assembly's strong resistance to the policy.
Beckley also suggested there is no need for a new committee. But the Assembly overwhelmingly voted down his amendment.
The final Assembly resolution, which passed unanimously, asked the College to repeal the regulation requiring students living in Greek houses to register their automobiles with Safety and Security.
Del Pozo, who sponsored the resolution, said all cars on campus must be registered with the Office of Parking Operations and must have stickers on them.
Safety and Security officers write more expensive tickets for cars with these stickers, while visitors without registration labels are charged half the student fee.
Del Pozo said Safety and Security should not be allowed to encroach on the private land of the Greek houses to ticket members' cars.
"There is no reason whatsoever that the College should come on to their land and make them have stickers. There are no safety reasons behind it," he added.
