Trustees to meet

418 might seem like a standard number. That's because it is. The 418th meeting of the Board of Trustees this weekend promises to be standard as well.

The dense three-day affair started on Thursday with meetings for the Campaign Steering Committee, the Nucleus Fund, the Investment Committee Dinner and a dinner hosted by Interim Dean of Students Deb McNish. Highlighting this day of arrival for the trustees was the Class Trustees Open Forum. Although poorly attended as the last trustees weekend in December, a stronger contingent of students appeared at the forum this Thursday.

Some students in attendance that wished to grab a hold of a trustees' ear had created formal proposals, while others just tried to bounce ideas off of the candid trustees. Two overlapping proposals were made at the meeting in regards to College purchases and investments. The Student Labor Action Coalition formally proposed the curtailing of any future purchasing of garments that utilize sweatshop labor in their production by the College, while another proposal was made to direct the College toward socially responsible investments.

The trustees also heard from students who wished to express their opinions on the placement of the First-year Experience as well as concerns about the need-sensitive financial aid policy of the College. The Class Trustees in attendance will report the forum's concerns to the collective trustees on Saturday.

Today, the trustees broke bread with the pride of the athletic department - the women's basketball team. The Lady Crimsons enjoyed lunch with the trustees in celebration of their recent success on the hardwood. Breaking with tradition, the trustees will break up and eat dinner at selected faculty homes rather than a large banquet dinner.

Putting recreation and celebration aside, the trustees get down to business on Saturday morning with the executive session at 8:30 a.m. At the closed-door executive meeting, the trustees will have a discussion with College President Nancy Dye, as well as hear a report from the Nominations Committee.

The trustees will then hold their quasi-executive session, and address the focal points of the trustees weekend. Reports will be administered by the personnel and development committees. The personnel committee will address faculty appointments and reappointments, and the development committee will give an update on the construction of the environmental studies center. Afterwards, the trustees will hear about the state of the capital campaign.

Closing the quasi-executive session will be a review of the sexual offense policy by the campus affairs committee. The review has been sparked by the efforts of the Sexual Assault Support Team to rewrite the current policy.

The open session, starting at will contain a vote on the renovation of the Oberlin Inn. The Budget and Finance Committee will conclude the meeting with a financial forecast for 1998-99, a presentation of the preliminary budget for 1999-2000, and approval of next year's student charges.