Despite extensive debate and initial objections from most members in attendance, Student Assembly last night agreed to contribute $500 to a group aiming to cull $8,500 from various campus organizations to revamp the Poison Ivy social space.
In its original form, the resolution, which ultimately passed by a vote of six to two with one abstention, requested $1,000 from the Assembly in order to assist in creating an "exciting and usable club with a new name, a new look, a new feel and a new whole attitude."
Student planners came to the Assembly for help on the overhaul, originally intended to be kept behind-the-scenes until its launch this fall, after the project's expected funding from the Student Activities Office was reduced following College-wide budget cuts last week.
Resolution sponsor Jai Danani '04 explained the need for more funding -- the Student Activities Office is providing $3500 and planners need $4000 to $5000 more from other organizations -- by asserting that any substantive changes to the oft-derided social space must be "done right" rather than halfway.
The proposed revisions would include creation of a "lounge atmosphere." Danani stressed that early funding will go toward creating a more neutral aesthetic, noting that currently, the room "looks like a hodge podge."
"If you want it to look good, you're going to have to pay," Danani said. Planners are doing some of the painting themselves to reduce labor costs.
Danani said that the earliest steps will include electrical work and covering up the room's "ugly" paneling and color scheme. Some members expressed concerns that the facility won't gain in popularity before the implementation of more tangible changes.
"The fraternities and other places on campus -- the dcor isn't exactly there either," member Sally Newman '05 said. She noted that the back entrance to Poison Ivy should be used in the near future because would-be club-goers currently have to enter through the glaring lights of the Collis Center, which she said invokes a feeling of "the presence of the administration."
Danani countered by stating that "this is never going to be a frat basement," going on to explain that Poison Ivy serves a different function than Greek houses, and in some cases, a different community of students.
While discussing the proposed donation, some members argued that the Assembly should be mindful of funding such projects in the climate of tighter budgets across campus.
"Our school should start structuring its spending in a completely different way," Secretary Rebecca Perkins '04 said.
The amendment that the resolution ultimately passed under, proposed by Andy Edwards '04, alleviated this concern for some members by reducing the donation to $500 and stipulating that the Assembly's Student Life committee should have a say in exactly what part of the club's new look its money goes to.
The Assembly left room for the possibility that it would donate additional funds in the fall pending the performance of Poison Ivy under its new name and launch in the fall.
The resolution was also sponsored by Li Jun Xian '04, Rachel Gepner '03, Matthew Feinstein '04 and the Student Activities Office.
