Senate
 

• MINUTES

Agenda

I. Call to order 6:30 PM
 

II. Passage of previous meeting’s minutes

 

III.  Old Business

Capital Improvement Requests (10 minutes)

ASOC Computers

Programming Board

KOXY Discretionary Request (7 minutes)

 

IV.  New Business

A. GA Update (10 minutes)

B. Finance and Public Relations Committee Update (18 minutes)

    a. Funding Requests (15 minutes)

    b. Web update (3 minutes)

C. Campus Culture Committee (15 minutes)

    a. Campus Elections (5 minutes)

    b. Project reviews (10 minutes)

D. Scholastic Committee Update (10 minutes)

E. President’s Update (5 minutes) 

 

V.  Open Forum
General Comments (7 minutes)

Next Meeting’s Agenda Topics (3 minutes)

 

VII.  Close Meeting

Download pdf minutes: 11-6-07

Minutes from November 6, 2007

 

I. Call to order 6:31 PM  

Ryan noted that he was hoping for the meeting to be short, since there were a low amount of funding requests and the personal project presentations were intended to be short. 

 

II. Passage of previous meeting’s minutes

The minutes were passed by general consent pending several name adjustments.

 

III. Old Business

A.     Capital Improvement Requests

a.     ASOC Computers

Ryan entertained a motion to pass the previous ASOC computer CIR; Andrew moved to pass it exactly as it was previously, Patrick seconded, and the motion was passed by general consent. 

b.     Programming Board

Ryan spoke to Programming Board’s request for $2424 passed at last week’s GA meeting for the purpose of purchasing a crossover stereo, cable, input mixer, amps, speakers, casters, safety locks, and a walkie-talkie system.  Ken asked if this was a Programming Board Tech Request; Kenna replied that it was. 

 

Ryan entertained a motion to pass the Capital Improvement Request.  Mike moved, Tilak seconded, and the motion passed 10-0-1 with Ken abstaining. 

B.     KOXY Discretionary Request

Max Read spoke to the KOXY-sponsored “Battle In The Bowl”.  He stated that it would be the biggest event of the semester, and would feature clown dancing in the Greek Bowl as well as the turf dancers known as the Book Architects.  Max stated his belief that this event would not only draw a large crowd, but would also showcase vibrant cultural expression.  He asked that ASOC grant $1000 for the Architects, who dance in the videos of the Ambassador of the Bay, 40 Belafonte, and added that if this happened, the signs could say that the event was co-sponsored by ASOC. 

 

Patrick asked if KOXY had the discretionary budget to finance this event; Max replied that their event budget was about $9000 and that the total event would cost 5-6000 dollars.  Alison asked where ASOC’s contribution would come from; Ryan replied that since no clubs were co-sponsoring he would suggest taking money out of the leadership fund.  Mike said that the guidelines stated that funding from the Leadership Fund could only be given through an initiative by a Senate/ASOC official, and that this seemed more like a funding request.  He added that this constituted a circumvention of the algorithm.  Patrick brought up the issue of “double dipping”; since funds had already been allocated to KOXY, a student service, it would break precedent to allocate further funding. 

 

Ryan said that since the event was taking place on the 16^th, there was time for him or a senator to craft a proposal which would allow KOXY access to the Leadership Fund.  Ken expressed his opinion that if funding was granted to KOXY in this manner, it would be an interorg event on paper and nothing else.  Santiago stated that this would help greatly with Public Relations given the size of the event.  Max said that KOXY would not oppose collaborating with another org on this event and that this had not occurred due only to a case of “tunnel vision”. 

 

Ryan asked how granting funds to KOXY would be different from granting funds to Phi Psi for the Not Unhappy Hour; Alison replied that she had helped plan the Not Unhappy Hour.  Mike said that he would not mind giving money if someone came up with a project relating to this event and worked on it.  Ryan replied that he did not see a discrepancy in the guidelines with providing KOXY funding, as the guidelines did not stipulate that the project had to be the brainchild of a senator.  Alison listed KOXY’s options: they could either latch onto a senator or find a club and receive funding through either the Leadership fund or Discretionary. 

 

Ryan tabled discussion on the subject until Santiago or Dominique came up with a proposition with which to fund KOXY.

 

IV. New Business

A.     GA Update

Laura stated that both she and Jessica were resigning so that the positions of GA Co-Chairs could be open for the upcoming elections.  She added that she and Jessica would facilitate the remaining GAs and help with the transitions of the new officers. 

 

Denise asked for the reason behind the sudden resignations.  Laura replied that they came not as a result of a negative experience with the GA, but from job conflicts, future class conflicts, as well as physical and mental stress.  She also mentioned that the presence of Tessa as GA Publicity Coordinator would help ease the burden of the new Co-Chairs. 

 

Ken asked how the Senate could make the Co-Chairs’ job easier.  Laura replied that the Senate could help with the transition of the new Co-Chairs.  Ryan suggested a new post-GA meeting spot for both Co-Chairs and Senate.  He also asked whether Laura and Jessica would be finishing out the semester.  Laura replied that they would, but that the newly elected Co-Chairs would be involved with the remaining GAs so that they could become accustomed to the position. 

 

Speaking to last weeks’s GA, she stated that the RIAA/ITS session was very informative but she was still unsure of the support some students were receiving in terms of legal help.  Laura also reported that during this week’s GA would feature Caroline Kim in lieu of Dean Avery talking about current projects. 

 

B.     Finance and Public Relations Committee Update

a.     Funding Requests

Club/Org	Event/Program	Funding Amount	Vote
PUSO	Turon Fundraiser	$77.13	Patrick moved, Denise seconded, passed 10-0-1 with Patrick abstaining
SSAP	Faculty/Student BBQ	$852.90	Patrick moved, Ken seconded, passed 10-0-1 with Patrick abstaining
Santiago proclaimed this to be most legit.

 

b.     Web update

Ryan told the Senate that he had been working on the website and added that since he was a photographer, he could take pictures of the senators for their respective pages.  He also said that by the end of the week he would have a daily events sheet up.  Ryan had also been working on updating the minutes, which are very thorough thanks to yours truly, as well as posting the GA minutes.  He also told the Senate to look forward to logos as well as a master calendar. 

 

c.      Public Relations

Dominique told the Senate that as a member of the Public Relations Committee, she would very much support aiding KOXY, since it was her intention to help publicize larger events for ASOC.  She had also come up with other ideas, including monthly mixers and awareness weeks.  Santiago added that he had created posters advertising to potential candidates for the two Campus Wide Senator positions, but that he would have to modify them in light of the GA Co-Chair positions.  They featured the House of Lords. 

 

C.    Campus Culture Committee

a.     Campus Elections

Daniel told the Senate that he had sent out an e-mail to the class listservs appealing to potential candidates, and also noted both the Friday petition deadline and his need for two individuals to help with the Elections Committee.  Ryan asked if Daniel had received any submissions; Daniel replied that he had not.  Kenna said that they would most likely all come in on Thursday at 4:00 PM.  When Ken asked if the Senate should plan for that, Kenna replied that the election could be postponed or that only one position could be offered. 

 

b.     Project Reviews

Tilak told the Senate that he still had not spoken with ICC, and that he would start trying to bring handicap access to the newer facilities.  Kenna stated that the newer buildings are where they should be in terms of compliance with access rules; Ken noted that Tilak should make sure, since if these buildings were not in compliance change could happen quickly. 

 

Denise told the Senate of last Friday’s deadline for cultural graduations, and stated that each graduation would likely receive $2500 each.  She also mentioned that she would bring a proposal next week on this subject.  Regarding longer Cooler hours, she had spoken to Kenna, who told her that normally OSL would pay for extended Cooler hours.  However, OSL had not budgeted money for this purpose.  Denise told the Senate that running the Cooler Sunday through Thursday from 11:30 PM to 2 AM for 18 weeks would cost under $5000, and that she was searching for alternative sources of funding. 

 

Rob told the Senate that he was going to call the L.A. Times tomorrow to see if they would provide educational discounts for newspaper for students, but noted that they had not been willing to return his calls in the past.  Rob also stated that he wanted to start a community-interest base for pre-health students: A place for them to live and study, most likely a quad in Norris to help bring people from different backgrounds together.  Ryan asked Rob to create a report concerning where funding for this space would come from. 

 

Nonda told the Senate that she had met with Bruce Steele in order to get recycling bins in all academic buildings and classroom.  She said that she had also spoken with Amy Munoz to see if biodegradable boxes could be used in the Marketplace. 

 

Ken told the Senate that he had thought about an adapted version of the environmental sustainability amendment that failed last year.  He recommended that it be voted on during this election so that the program could be launched as soon as possible.  He said that the environmental team needed time to draft the amendment in order to put it on the ballot by next Tuesday, since for an amendment to go on the ballot it either has to be supported by a petition or approved by 2/3 of the Senate.  Ken expressed that the amendments could be written, tweaked, discussed, and then voted on by Tuesday.  He advocated drafting a letter telling the amendment writers to make the amendments good, and that given the complexity of the amendments the writers should have as much time as possible.

 

Nonda replied that she saw the benefits of pushing the student fees and transparency amendments through, but recommended leaving the environmental amendment for next semester so that a larger publicity campaign could be mounted.  Ken replied that the environmental amendment was more complex, and had a better chance of being pushed through if it was included in this election. 

 

Regarding the student fees amendment, Patrick said that suspending the system of having student fees in lockstep with tuition would be a major structural change that warrants a very close examination by both the Senate and Gabriela.  Speaking to the transparency amendment, Ken stated that all students should have access to budget information barring sensitive info such as the workings of the Algorithm™, and that as far as the changing student fees, the sooner Senate knew how much money they would have as a result of the changes the sooner they could budget appropriately.  Ken added that the environmental amendment was a far more complex project spending $10000 over several years that this semester’s Senate would be far better informed on than next semester’s. 

 

Ryan suggested that Ken make a motion.  Ken moved to give notice to the student body about these three proposed amendments on Friday and formally discuss and vote on them on Tuesday.  Mike seconded. 

 

Kenna asked if students would react with confusion at being told what amendments they might be able to vote on instead of what amendments they would be able to vote on.  Daniel recommended informing students about the simpler student fees and transparency amendments and letting the more complex environmental amendment brew.  Ken replied that plans for the environmental amendment had been brewing for countless centuries and were now inexorably drawing towards fruition; none could stem the coming tide of environmental sustainability.

 

The motion was passed 9-2-0, with Dominique and Denise opposing. 

D.    Scholastic Committee Update

Ken listed the Scholastic Committee’s projects of academic advising, faculty/staff mixers, and the textbook project.  Alison told the Senate that after registration, the committee would send out a survey asking how students felt about the advising process. 

 

Alison spoke to the pros and cons of the Not Unhappy Hour: While it was fun while it lasted, there were too few professors, the event was too short, there was not enough food or drink, and it was limited to students 21 and over.  She recommended putting on similar events more frequently to attract more professors, increasing the amounts of food and drink, and opening the event to all students. 

 

Ken talked about the textbook project, saying that the idea was to get textbooks through a cooperation of people, whether the books were in the CAE, SSAP room, or library.  The long-term destination was the library, which had the advantage of a daily staff and institutionalizing the program, but had the cons of $36 a book cataloguing cost.  The short-term destination would be the SSAP room, which is accessed by several hundred students with limited hours. He then showed a list of initial classes taken by many people or with frequently used textbooks for which the first set of textbooks could be provided, such as intro lab science or econ classes. 

 

Ryan asked if the committee had been consulting with faculty.  Ken replied in the affirmative, saying that he needed authorization to spend up to $1000 so that the program could be ready for the upcoming semester, which would give leverage when negotiating with library staff or administrators.  Kenna noted that the advising survey could be included on the election ballot or on an online survey being run by Honor Board. 

 

E.     President’s Update

Ryan told the Senate that he had met with President Prager and that he was meeting with Dean Avery the next day.  He said that he would appreciate any feedback from students or questions concerning administrative policy so that he could go into these meetings with more of an agenda.  Last week he had spent time with Prager talking about rising meal plan costs, and scheduled a meeting with Amy Munoz to explore different meal plan options and changes to the current rollover system. 

 

Ryan also informed the Senate on the search for an Assistant Dean of Student Life; the candidates for the position would be coming to campus and working in an advisory position.  He noted that the candidates were both great but had two very different leadership styles. 

 

V. General Comments

 

Santiago asked if senators could attend these meetings; Ryan replied that this would be possible.  Andrew asked Ryan to talk with administrators about Honor Board, Ken asked him to ask about the secondary housing requirement, Patrick asked him to push for institutionalization of the cultural graduations, and Denise asked him to push for the Senate’s dinner with President Prager.

 

Santiago noted that a term limit for GA Co-Chairs was not in the constitution; Kenna replied that the constitution was full of holes.  Santiago also recommended having elections more frequently to see if students want change, and also wished for students to have some sort of influence over administrative policy.  Ken noted that the more information received from administrators, the more involved students could be in the decision-making process.  He added that students have power, but have been domesticated and have not figured out an important issue top gather around. 

 

Ryan replied that only nebulous policy change was being suggested here, and that the Senate’s energy could be directed more efficiently by spending more time on projects outside of meetings.  He recommended using the power of petitions to effect change if a specific issue was found.  Santiago stated that the reason he was previously nebulous was that arguments such as those over pool hours tend to get narrowed. 

 

Alison said that the alcohol policy unites many people.  Andrew remarked that the judicial was getting harsh, handing out exorbitant punishments to some people while others fell through the cracks.  Ryan suggested brainstorming on these topics for next meeting.  Santiago inquired as to the progress of finding a new meeting space; Kenna replied that she was hesitant to make a reservation as next semester’s schedules would probably change the meeting time.  Ryan recommended postponing the issue. 

 

VI. Close Meeting

 

Santiago moved to close the meeting, and the meeting was closed by general consent at 8:13 PM.