Smith's plan would provide the council with additional funding while not upsetting current students--but would raise it unilaterally for students who aren't yet here.

Council veterans are largely impressed by the originality of Smith's plan but doubt its viability.

"It's cute," Driskell says, but she adds that she doesn't feel one class ought to pay more for the same services.

Finance Committee Chair Jeffrey A. Letalien '01 agrees.

"It's not going to work, unless all that money went straight to the First-Year Caucus," he says.

And all that would do is allow the council to cut ticket prices for the First-Year Formal--a nice perk for first-year students, but not a solution to the council's overall funding problems.

Another compromise that has been floated by Campus Life Committee Vice Chair Stephen N. Smith '02, is the suggestion that Lewis automatically raise the fee each year to keep up with inflation.