Proposed Reforms

Women are not only organizing in the council, they are working hard to reform it to make it more equal.

A series of new proposals intended to address women's concerns on the council are currently under debate.

An amendment presented last week by Rawlins in a meeting of the executive board would reform the constitution of the council to make all wording gender-neutral.

A second amendment would give the secretary the power to change such phrasing in other council documents.

These proposals will be voted on in the second meeting of the council next semester.

Council officers have also discussed measures to encourage more female participation during meetings.

One suggestion was to require speakers to stand at the podium with a microphone in order to discourage interruptions and focus the council's attention on each speaker.

The women's caucus is planning a public speaking workshop for women on the council and on campus who would like to improve their speaking.

Hyman has also said he will wait longer during meetings for less outspoken members to volunteer, call on members to speak and try to prevent interruptions.

Women's Issues

The council has already sponsored several projects dealing with women's issues, mostly with safety.

The council subsidized the Harvard Police Department's Rape Aggression Defense program (RAD). It also contributed financial support to "Model Mugging" sessions and the Runners' Alliance, a group which promotes safety in numbers when running.

Council members also aided the Radcliffe Union of Students's creation of HASTE, the Harvard Alliance for Safety Training and Education.

Representatives from the council and HASTE now jointly attend meetings of the Security Council. Harvard's ad-hoc committee that deals with security and problems on campus, Simons says.