Your Student Assembly unanimously passed the Consolidated Reserve Interest Act during Tuesday night’s meeting. The bill endorses the writing of a letter to College President Taylor Reveley and the Board of Visitors encouraging them to place the approximate $9,100 in interest that the Consolidated Reserve accrues every year into the “Save a Professor” fund instead of the unrestricted BOV-controlled slush fund where the interest currently goes. Though I would be shocked if the administration even takes the time to read this letter, this is a great bill. At the moment the interest on student fees is paying for BOV purchases which I assume include snow cone machines or something.
Though not voted on, there was also an informal discussion of the Get With the Times Act, which proposes the purchase of daily hard copies of either The New York Times, the Washington Post or some combination of the two. Since the SA already pays for the Saturday issue of the Virginia Gazette (which is unarguably the worst paper in print history), this bill seems like a breath of fresh air, but that does not mean that it is worth student money. Usually I advocate any allocation that takes money out of the hands of the SA and back into the hands of students, but this bill remains hugely wasteful. Both in the sense that it is buying what you can get for free and in the sense that it will result in unnecessary paper production.
I love newspapers. I even read the Gazette just because it’s there, but just because print media is more convenient than reading something online doesn’t mean that we should waste money on it. When The New York Times goes offline in January 2011 this bill should be reconsidered, but at the moment it is completely unnecessary.
Moving now to higher legislatures, if you happen to be reading this blog in a restaurant, please be aware that any number of the people around you are in all likelihood armed and dangerous. In yet another instance of the Democratic-controlled Virginia senate being one of the least progressive bodies this side of the Tea Party movement, they have approved a measure allowing licensed firearms in restaurants. The scary part: both chambers passed a similar measure last year with order only being preserved by former Gov. Tim Kaine’s veto — and Gov. Bob McDonnell firmly supports such legislation. Just to be clear, you can’t smoke in a restaurant in Williamsburg, but you will soon be able to bring your gun. Be sure to read the Virginia Gazette’s ringing endorsement of this legislation this Saturday.
