The Associate Student Body is considering the instigation of a new club policy that would forfeit clubs’ right to request funding from ASB if they do not attend the required student government meetings on Mondays at lunch.

At a recent student government meeting, ASB President Mohammed Abid explained that the new policy would state that if a club does not attend three meetings it would lose its right to request funds from ASB. If a club does not come to five meetings, it will lose its status as a club.

The reasoning is that "since clubs often receive money from ASB, we’d like them to be present at our meetings so that they can know what’s going on around the school," Abid said. "The meetings also give us an opportunity to address any club concerns or financial issues…The events we announce at the student council meetings can be backed by clubs. Also, clubs have opportunities to fundraise at these events. For clubs to know about this stuff, they need to go to the meetings."

To Darren Reis, a junior and one of the founders of the Swing Dance Club, the intentions behind the policy seem appropriate, but the policy itself seems harsh.

"I’m not sure those are the right steps to encourage better attendance," Reis said. "If a club misses three meetings, it could lose the opportunity for getting money, which seems like a logical, fair idea. However, I have real concern with the second part of the policy. Losing your status as a club is an enormous setback. It could disband your club for good. While I like that they are taking action on the problem, I’m unsure as to what the right balance is."

According to Abid, there are roughly 30 established clubs at Paly, but only five attend student government meetings.

"We [ASB] have to tell the clubs exactly what the policy is," Abid said. "We have to prove that we’re being strict and explain to them the punishments."

In this year’s Paly Student Club Application, a club representative had to sign his or her name indicating their agreement to attend the meetings. Under the signature line, the document reads "Must attend Monday ASB meetings in the SRC."

According to Student Activities Director Allison Davies, a new draft of the Financial Policies and Procedures for Student Clubs is in progress, containing a clause that would state the new policy.

"It’s also important for the clubs to know what’s going on in the school since they are school-sponsored," Abid said.

In addition to a new policy on club attendance, ASB is considering changing the fourth period representative system. Currently, every fourth period class should have a designated representative to attend student government lunch meetings and report back about the meeting to the class. However, like club attendance, fourth period representative attendance is very low.

"The system is ineffective for a number of reasons," Abid said. "I haven’t done my job of making people want to go to the meetings. I think if something isn’t taken seriously, like these meetings, then people don’t show up. I think the underlying problem is that people might not take student council seriously so we want to change that."

According to Davies, one of the problems with the system is that representatives are not given sufficient time to report to the class.

"A lot of teachers are not willing to give up class time to give representatives time to report back," Davies said.

Abid explained at the meeting that possible alternatives to the system are In Focus segments and an ASB Web site, yet to be created.

According to Abid, at the first meeting there were about 40 representatives, but as the year goes on, the number has dropped to about 20.

"At the start, a lot of representatives attend," Davies said. "They drop off and drop off. By the end of the year, only elected [ASB] officers come."