Undergraduate Council President Fentrice D. Driskell '01 and Vice President John A. Burton '01 convinced the vast majority of the council at last night's meeting to allocate money to conduct a student census, although not without a fight.

The council passed by a vote of 34-2 a bill sponsored by Driskell and Burton that allocates $400 to carry out the top item on the duo's campaign platform: a comprehensive poll of students in order to diagnose important concerns.

But the Census 2000 bill only passed after opponents amended the bill twice, changing the project's name and other details.

However, the council voted to keep the level of funding at $400, despite the objections of Finance Committee Chair John P. Marshall '01.

The bill calls for $400 for "the purposes of publicity and copying expenses." Marshall said he felt this was too much, because student groups are never awarded that much money for such limited purposes.

"Didn't we allocate $400 to Students For Life for a mail drop?" David B. Orr '01 asked.

Marshall said the mail drop was not a fair comparison because that allocation covered costs extending beyond publicity and copying.

"We never give more than $50 for publicity," he said. "We never give more than $50 for copying."