NOTE: The BC does not actually allocate money; it only makes recommendations for the AAS to vote on.  No award is final until voted on by the AAS at its meeting at 8:30 in the Red Room in Converse Hall.

ACEMS came asking for money to start a new program in which ACEMS members will train other students to perform CPR, allowing anyone on campus to become CPR certified for free. In order to do this, however, a core group of student-instructors would need to get a special instructor certification, which costs $100/person. The BC recommended $1500 to pay for fifteen students to be certified as instructors, and $10 to allow ACEMS to publicize this opportunity to the entire campus, for a total of $1510.

The Amherst Element came asking for money to publicize and buy food for an introductory meeting they were holding to recruit new people to help with the magazine. The BC recommended that they receive $50 for food and $10 for publicity.

Educate! asked for funding for Casino Night, an annual fundraiser that takes place in Val. All students can be admitted to Casino Night without having to pay, but if they wish to buy chips and gamble for prizes, they must pay (proceeds go to charity). The BC was uncomfortable with this event, because the gambling element conflicts with the AAS accessibility policy, which states that only events that are free and open to all Amherst students can be funded. The BC finally determined that Casino Night had two discrete elements—the band/dancing, and the gambling fundraiser—and decided that the AAS could fund things pertaining to the former. Educate! would seek other funding sources for the casino part. The BC voted to recommend $750 for the sound equipment, stage, and lighting for the band, $250 to pay the band, $200 for the post-band deejay, $500 to rent equipment for Physical Plant, and $500 for decorations, for a total of $2200.

Relay for Life requested funding for their Breast Cancer Awareness week programs, included a “Sing and Save” event on the weekend that will feature Route 9 and will have free admission with a suggested donation. The BC recommended funding $75 for baking supplies so that group members could bake desserts for the “Sing and Save” event, as well as $50 for decorations and $10 for publicity, for a total of $135.

THiNK requested funds for a film event. The event was to function not only as the first in a series film screenings that would highlight issues with North/South Korean relations, but would also serve as an introductory meeting to garner new membership, as THiNK had not yet held theirs this semester. The BC thus recommended $7 to rent the movie, $10 for publicity, and then, since this was a meeting aimed at attracting new membership, $50 for food and $12 for eating utensils, for a total of $75.

Amherst Quidditch, a newly formed club team, asked for money to allow them to compete in an upcoming quidditch tournament at Middlebury. Since the Middlebury rules require each team to have uniforms, the BC recommended $100 to facilitate the Quidditch Club’s plan to buy fabric and make their own uniforms. The BC also recommended $100 to cover tournament registration fees, and $10 for publicity, for a total of $210.

The RCs were organizing a fall barbeque for October 31 to offer the campus an alternate celebration of Halloween to the ones at Hampshire and elsewhere. The BC determined that the food that they requested funds for was integral to the event as a barbeque, and that the event itself was justified in that it had potential to benefit the entire student body. The BC recommended $800 for food and drinks for the barbeque.

ACRA (Crew) asked for an additional $20 to cover the cost of a cot for the fifth person in a four-person room. This was the price quoted by the hotel at which they already had a reservation at an upcoming regatta. The BC determined that this additional $20 still kept the cost of the room under the $150-per-four-people cap that the BC enforces for hotels, and thus recommended funding the $20 in full.

The Korean Students Association asked for funding for an organized study group they were planning for what they estimated would be 20 people. They requested $40 for ramen noodles for this event. The BC did not recognize as valid the KSA’s argument that the ramen was justifiable under the BC’s “integral-to-the-event” rule for funding food. The BC declined the request, the consensus being that an organized study group with ramen noodles is not an effective way to celebrate Korean culture on the campus-wide level. The BC recommended $0.