Sunday night’s meeting of the Columbia College Student Council was jam-packed with presentations, information, and proposed policy changes. Without further delay, Rakhi Agrawal reports:

Where does your money go?: Responding to calls for transparency, CCSC Vice President for Finance Daphne Chen, CC ’14, put together a clear and detailed presentation about how CCSC allocates its $216 portions of each Columbia College student’s $1,396 yearly student life fee . You can check out Chen’s presentation here.

State of the Art(s Initiative): Vice President for Policy Will Hughes, CC ’13, gave a thorough presentation on ongoing problems with the Arts Initiative. In an effort to rally students to voice their opinions about the Arts Initiative, Hughes is reaching out to arts-related groups that might want him to discuss their concerns at future meetings. You can see Hughes’ presentation here.

More space, fewer problems: CCSC President Karishma Habbu, CC ’13, presented a resolution for a pilot program in John Jay Dining Hall that would open the area between 9:00 p.m. and 1:30 a.m., from Sunday through Thursday, for students to use as a non-quiet study space similar to Butler Lounge. Habbu proposed hiring a work-study student who would be paid $7,000 per semester to clean up the space every night, and CCSC would cover half of this compensation. Some council members voiced concerns about whether Barnard College and General Studies students would have access to the space, and so the resolution was tabled until next week, pending amendments.

2016 gets down to business: The newly elected Class of 2016 Council is working on several initiatives, including the revamping of Student Government Office on the 5th floor of Lerner Hall. Representatives discussed the possibility of adding new color copy machines and scanners to the SGO, as well as updating the software on the workstations. Additionally, the 2016 council is in the process of planning its first party, a DJ-off between DJs from the Class of 2016.

Capital Investment Fund is live: Chen announced that the council is officially accepting applications for the Capital Investment Fund, which was created for student groups that have trouble securing funding for large-scale overhauls of equipment or supplies.

Come on home, lions: Homecoming is this weekend, and Vice President for Campus Life, Yanyi Luo, CC ’13, announced several events that will be taking place from Monday through Friday, in advance of the football team’s homecoming game on Saturday. Check out the lineup here, including finger-painting and a carnival on Low Plaza.

Extra, extra, read all about it: The council addressed the fact that the University’s New York Times subscription is actually only intended for Columbia College students, as CCSC pays one-third of the cost, or $13,500 per year (the rest of the cost is shared by the President’s Office and Dining Services). Council members discussed the possibility of limiting access to the Times to students in CC and the School of Engineering and Applied Science—perhaps by moving the newspapers to residence halls—as well as the possibility of convincing other councils to contribute funding.