The Undergraduate Council of Students introduced and approved numerous changes to its Code of Operations during its general body meeting last night.
"90 percent of the changes are putting code in line with what's actually done," Zachary Townsend '08, vice president of UCS, told The Herald after the meeting.
Major alterations included raising accountability for violations of the code, making the appointments process less onerous for UCS and removing committees that are no longer extant.
Townsend told The Herald that a large chunk of the changes were "grammatical," adding that the most important change made was the "single sentence that says, 'You have to follow the code.'"
Prior to last night's meeting, "if someone violated the code, basically nothing would happen," Townsend said.
In another change, the code was amended so that students can now recall officers they did not elect. Previously, the student body was only allowed to recall popularly elected UCS members.
"For example, if the student body wanted to recall (UCS President Sarah Saxton-Frump '07) or I, they couldn't, because we were internally elected," Townsend told The Herald.
During last night's meeting, UCS also received a report from Kate Brandt '07, the council's corporation liaison, who highlighted what she called the "key recommendations" of the Environmental Task Force's report on reducing energy use and emissions.
"The most effective way (to reduce energy use and emissions on campus) is to invest in both equipment and programs designed to increase efficiency of both the new and existing buildings on campus," Brandt said. The major recommendations included the purchase of renewable energy sources and a push for the purchase of efficient vehicles by Brown.
Michael Glassman '09, a UCS class representative, said storage for next year is "all figured out," and Andrew Krupansky '09, another class representative, outlined the new procedures for students wishing to obtain storage. Students will sign up online, and a computer will "generate a list of 600 people" who will get storage, Krupansky said.
Townsend also recapped a meeting with about 75 student leaders that occurred last week. The meeting was a part of a UCS initiative aiming to compile a list of building projects to be submitted to President Ruth Simmons and Richard Spies, executive vice president for planning and senior advisor to the president. Major ideas for new construction projects include an arts building for performance, dance and martial arts and a large, centralized campus center.
In other business, Brown Tang Soo Do was granted category III status. Brown Badmash, a new South Asian dance group, was granted category I status. Big Brothers at Brown, the International Socialist Organization, Students for Free Tibet and Young Minority Investors were all de-constituted.
