I. Meeting called to order at 6:19 P.M.

 

II. Passage of the previous meetings’ minutes

 

The minutes were passed by general consent, pending changes to Paolo’s surname. 

 

III. Old Business

 

A.     Newspaper Proposal

Ryan reviewed the basics of the newspaper proposal.  In Santiago’s absence, Rob was needed to further elaborate upon the proposal.  Rob stated that he had asked Santiago how readership would be judged; several ideas were floated until I happened to suggest some form of sign-out sheet.  Ryan asked the Senate if they felt they could pass this proposal without a senator who could fully explain its nuances; the senators tabled the proposal. 

 

B.     Access Fund

Kenna noted that on the subject of the depleted Access Fund, she had been right and the senators had not listened.  More people had applied for monies from the Access Fund, and she could only supply $375 instead of the previous amount of $500 unless more money was allocated to the Access Fund.  Ryan told the Senate that the ASOC Leadership Fund, the Senate Discretionary Fund, the Club Allocations Fund, and the RHA Fund were all of the different sources of funding at their disposal.  Rozell recommended allocating from the Senate Discretionary or ASOC Leadership Funds, as he wanted to make sure that the Club Allocation funds remained untouched.  Kenna replied that the main issue was the appropriateness of the chosen fund for this particular purpose; the Senate Discretionary Funds were normally used for clubs, and she stated that she didn’t feel that this allocation would meet the guidelines of the leadership funds. 

 

Kenna reminded the Senate that if they allocated too large of an amount to the Access Fund, they could always reallocate.  Ryan said that he was on the verge of entertaining a motion to split the allocations between the ASOC Leadership Fund and the Club Allocations fund, since it would be hard to justify taking funds in the middle of the semester. 

 

Mike asked about the extent of ASOC Leadership projects this semester.  Ryan informed him that the newspaper proposal, history project fees, and environmental startup funds would all be coming out of ASOC Leadership.  Patrick said that his main concern was that if funds were allocated from Club Allocations or Senate Discretionary, it would amount to taking funds from clubs and spending them on senators.  Andrew disagreed, saying that all of the funds originated from student fees, and as they are all created equal they are equally suited toward being used for a given purpose.  Patrick countered by pointing out that clubs have no access to the leadership fund, whereas senators are able to reallocate funds from Senate Discretionary and Club Allocations at their leisure. 

 

Kenna offered to find out from Gabriella if there were other funds from which the monies could be drawn, to which Rozell replied that he would feel comfortable tabling the issue. 

 

Tilak moved to take $1000 from the Leadership Fund to be allocated to the Access with the stipulation that any leftover funds would be reallocated back into the Leadership fund.  Rozell seconded the motion.

 

The motion passed 8-1-0, with Rob opposing. 

 

IV. New Business

 

A.     GA Status and Planning

Paolo told the Senate that the first meeting was next week, and that he and Noel were planning to hold meetings every two weeks.  He also noted that they had reserved Johnson 200 for all meetings except for next week.  Noel said that she had tried to locate President Skotheim for a meeting but had failed.  Ryan explained that this was because the President was out of town until the 18^th. 

 

Tilak suggested that the second GA be centered around ResLife, as there was a rumor floating around that first-years would be barred from living in Pauley next year.  Noel confirmed this, saying that the first-years would be housed in Bell-Young instead.  Xochiltl asked if second-years would be required to live on campus, to which Ryan replied that Dean Avery was planning on pushing it through, although he had advised her not to pursue that particular course of action. 

 

[Ken enters from stage right.]

 

Noel stated that she thought that Dean Avery was pushing an application process to live off campus as opposed to a requirement.  Ryan recommended that she explore the issue further. 

 

B.     Finance and Public Relations Committee

a.     Funding Requests

 

Club/Org	Event/Program	Funding Amount	Vote
Ballet Folklorico	Performance at Semana de la Raza	$381.95	Mike moved, Xochiltl seconded, motion passed by general consent
Yoga Club	Spring Semester Classes	$489.07	Mike moved, Tilak seconded, motion passed by general consent
Oxy Folk and Historical Dance Troupe	Waltz/Polka Night	$266.41	Mike moved, Andrew seconded, motion passed by general consent
Hillel	Shabbat	100.00	Mike moved, Rob seconded, motion passed by general consent.
Steez	3 issues/semester	0	Mike moved, Patrick seconded, motion passed by general consent but later reversed.

 

FBLA	Prospective Member Meeting	38.80	Mike moved, Andrew seconded, and the motion was passed by general consent.

 

Patrick told the Senate that Senate Discretionary contains $12970.31, and that Club Allocations was down to slightly more than $8000. 

 

b.     Club Mixer

 

Patrick informed the Senate on the Club Mixer; he had posters printed, spoken to Classic Thai, and had drafted an e-mail inviting club members to the mixer.  He said that the logistical portion of the event was done, and added that the use of the Coons rotunda was free, while food was the only other significant expense. 

 

Patrick moved to approve $350 from the club leadership fund for the club mixer.  Rozell seconded, and the motion was approved by general consent. 

 

Ryan told George Denny that they had voted to fund him $1660.62 for three issues of Steez.  George replied that this was only enough for 1.5 issues, and that he would appreciate enough funding for two issues.  Mike noted that he had compromised on George as far as attendance figures, as the previous figure of 700 had been too high.  Ryan recommended reversing the vote and tabling the issue until next week.  Kenna supported this idea. 

 

Mike stated that he would come back next week with the same funding recommendation, but moved to reverse the vote on the Steez funding request and table the issue until next week.  Monikah seconded, and the motion passed 9-1-1, with Xochiltl opposing and Ken abstaining. 

 

Ryan also noted that the Public Relations had wanted to send out a summary of the Senate’s accomplishments during the fall semester, and encouraged them to get in touch with the committee members. 

 

C.    Committee Updates

a.     Multicultural History

Xochiltl and Rob reported that they had visited the admissions office, where they had received a limited amount of data concerning the ethnic makeup of the various graduating classes of the College.  Ryan stated that he also wanted to examine the socioeconomic background of the incoming classes.  Xochiltl added that Occidental has been exceeding diversity goals of late. 

 

b.     Facilities’ Staff Issues

Rozell reported that he wasn’t able to speak with the workers in Rangeview, and that he was waiting to hear back from ResLife and Housing concerning the amount of work that the Housekeeping staff puts in.  Kenna advised him to be cautious, as he may be dealing with a union issue. 

 

c.      Administrative Relations Committee

Kenna reported that they had not had a meeting with the administrators they sought, but would instead e-mail them in the near future. 

 

d.     Leadership Relations

Andrew told the Senate that they had bounced ideas off of the GA co-chairs, and that they had invited Kyle Bruin and the RHA Board to attend the meeting. 

 

          D. Scholastic Committee

a.     DOCSAC

Ken said that Madison Murphy had sent out 60 applications.  He then elaborated on their function in relation to the Senate, saying that they were for all practical purposes autonomous and that a senator should sit on the committee.   He recommended someone less jaded who would be at Occidental next year, and added that Santiago had expressed interest. 

 

A motion was made to label Ken as useless.  This motion failed 2-0-9. 

 

b.     Newspaper Proposal Part Deux

Ken explained that the proposal asked for slightly more than $700.  The papers would be purchased on a weekly basis, despite the fact that the companies had attempted to cajole them into purchasing a set amount of papers over the course of weeks.  He approved the idea of using a sign-in sheet to denote student interest and notified Ryan that he would receive weekly updates. 

 

Ken moved to allocate $720 from the ASOC Leadership Fund for the purchases outlined in the Newspaper Proposal.  Rob seconded, and the motion was passed by general consent.  And there was much rejoicing.  

 

c.      Charter on Renewable Energy and Sustainability Committee

Ken asked the Senate to scan the document, and emphasized point 27.  He stated that they needed to tentatively approve the admissions process and that the charter needed to be sent to the GA, and also that the group also needed money to cover startup costs, since TOA only covers $50. 

 

Ken moved to fund the group $300 for startup costs out of the ASOC Leadership Fund, Nonda seconded, and the motion was passed by general consent. 

 

Ken asked if the Senate would feel comfortable approving the Charter.  Mike pointed out that the charter stipulates that existing committee members pick the next year’s committee members.  Ken promised to amend “existing committee members” to “graduating seniors”.  The admissions process was approved by general consent. 

 

E.     Presidential Update

Ryan told the Senate that he would attempt to attend weekly meetings for each committee and also advised them to start scheduling one on one meetings. He then asked for advice on how to publicize the advisory council; Kenna recommended using the club mixer to find interested individuals while Rob suggested finding them during quad-sitting. 

 

V. Forum

 

Andrew reported that he had met with a lack of success in his efforts to expand Campus Ride, and that Holly Nieto had not returned his e-mail. 

 

Ken notified the Senate of Carrie Harlow’ s desire to put on a senior event.  Kenna told Ken to keep her apprised of the situation. 

 

Mike prepared for the review of Steez’s funding by telling the Senate that he was prepared to stick to his guns, since last year they had received the 2^nd greatest amount of funds of any club, despite the fact that they held only one event.  Ryan threw his support to Mike. 

 

Rob mentioned that Gwen Hill had left Occidental.  Ryan asked about the status of the pre-med space.  Rob said that it had reached a pause since the leader of the Health Professions Interest Group had fallen off the face of the earth.  Kenna apologized for the door snafu.  

 

Patrick moved to close the meeting at 7:46, Rozell seconded, and the meeting was closed by general consent.