Senate
 

• MINUTES

Agenda

I. Call to order 6:30 PM

II. Passage of previous meeting’s minutes

III. Old Business

A. Amendment Follow up (5 minutes)

IV. New Business

A. GA Update (10 minutes)
a. Capital Improvement Request from PB

B. Finance and Public Relations Committee Update (15 minutes)
a. Funding Requests (10 minutes)
b. PR Study Break (5 minutes)

C. Campus Culture Committee (15 minutes)
a. Individual Project Reviews

D. Scholastic Committee Update (15 minutes)
a. Senate Operations (Alison) (10 minutes)

E. President’s Update (10 minutes)
a. End of the Semester Lunch Extravaganza: Friday, December 7, 12:30 PM in The Office
b. Reminder: Hold January 26, 2008, 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM for Mid-Year Training
c. Senate Meetings next semester: Tuesdays at 6:30 PM still okay?

V. Open Forum

A. General Comments (5 minutes)

VII. Close Meeting
 

Download pdf minutes: 12-04-07

Minutes from December 4, 2007

I. Meeting called to order at 6:33 P.M.

 

II. Passage of the previous meetings’ minutes

 

The minutes were passed by general consent. 

 

I. Meeting called to order at 6:32 P.M.

 

II. Passage of the previous meetings’ minutes

 

Ryan advised that the passage in which Ken identified the Braun room thrice should not be recorded literally; the minutes were passed by general consent pending this revision. 

 

III. Old Business

 

A.     Amendment Follow-Up

 

Ryan told the Senate about a 45-minute long meeting he, Nonda, Kenna, and Gillette, the Comptroller of the school, had concerning the financial impact and consequences of the two passed amendments.  Of particular concern was the ‘opt-out” provision of the environmental fund; Gillette had said that this would be poor business practice and that students should be allowed to “opt-in” instead.  Patrick pointed out that this would reduce overall funds, to which Ryan agreed but added that it was necessary and that future senators could work on PR for the fund. 

 

Gillette had also been concerned with how the rate of inflation for the student fees amendment would be determined; although she recommended the Consumer Price Index, this rate could easily rise above that of tuition.  The Senate would ultimately have the responsibility of determining which rate to use. 

 

IV. New Business

 

A.     GA Update

 

Ryan asked the Senate how they felt about Susan Prager’s engagement with the GA.  Ken and Xochiltl agreed that the opening statement should be cut down, and Xochiltl added that Prager’s interactivity with and responses to the audience were very good.  Ryan said that he felt as if it were the first fully functional GA.  Ken and Alison recommended sending thank-you notes to members of the administration who were present. 

 

Ryan asked if there was something besides crises that could stimulate higher GA attendance.  Andrew advocated for changing the venue from the third floor of Fowler.  Patrick stated that some student issues of great import, such as the alcohol policy or first-year housing, were not being addressed.  Devon said that to him, it was a question of whether the GA takes input on where the Senate should go, and if Senate is not going anywhere students will become proportionally disinterested. 

 

Alison encouraged the Senate to make an amendment so that so many GAs each semester would not be required.  Santiago supported the idea of convening GAs on an ad-hoc basis.  Xochiltl recommended having GAs every other week to make the task of producing an audience easier on the Co-Chairs.  Ken suggested coordinating GA topics with topics being discussed by Student Life, such as discussion of the cancellation of Senior Smack. 

 

                             a. PB Capital Improvement Request

 

Ryan told the Senate that Programming Board had come through with a request to replace their red carpet, buy a popcorn machine, and also financially cover their six couches.  Patrick asked whether or not six couches seemed a little excessive; it was revealed that these six couches were already present in the building.  Denise asked if Senate usually approved items that had already been bought; according to the PB delegation, Gabriela had told them of no set precedent. 

 

Ryan entertained a motion to pass the request.  Andrew moved to pass, Rob seconded, and the motion was passed 11-0-1 with Ken abstaining. 

 

B.     Finance and Public Relations Committee Update

 

a.     Funding Requests

 

Club/Org	Event/Program	Funding Amount	Vote
Rebirth Club	New Orleans Trip	$1207.05	Andrew moved, Tilak seconded, passed 9-0-3 with Nonda, Andrew, and Patrick abstaining
Patrick noted that Rebirth Club was going to New Orleans to help with the rebuilding of houses.  Last year, they had received $1207.05 for the same event due to their addition of an auxiliary attendance component, as the algorithm would only yield a negative number.  The addition of said component, consisting of a presentation or other Big Easy-related activity to be decided later, would make the event on-campus.  This year, the extension of the trip as well as this on-campus component caused the algorithm to give $600.67 to the Rebirth Club.  Patrick said that although the official recommendation from the algorithm was $600.67, he and Mike recommended an increase due to the higher quality of the event, as judged by the higher number of people going on the trip as well as the extension of the trip’s length.  Ken asked what happened two years ago, to which Andrew replied that there had been no trip.   Emma, a representative of the Rebirth Club, made it known that if the Senate increased their funding, they would use it to pay for plane tickets.  She also commented that this trip because a professor would be traveling with the club, making for a more integrated educational experience.  Ryan said that although the residual effects were fairly obvious, but that he was interested in their argument to receive more funding.   Emma said that taking into account the funds they were seeking from OSL, the Anderson grants that some students were waiting on, and that some of the plane tickets were being funded by the Senate, the Rebirth Club was looking at expenditures of around $3000, and that they currently had $2600 in their coffers.    Ken asked for a logically consistent argument for more funding; Patrick replied that last year Senate funded twice as much for half the people going on a trip for less than half the time.  Andrew moved to fund at $1207.05, with Tilak seconding.  The motion passed 9-0-3 with Nonda, Andrew, and Patrick abstaining.
Deetz Magazine	End of Semester Dinner/Printed Copy	$150.00	Ken moved, Nonda seconded, passed 9-0-3 with Rob, Xochiltl, and Patrick abstaining.
Patrick noted that this particular event caused the algorithm to produce a negative number, and as such, he and Mike had decided to fun it the basal rate of $25.00.  Ryan explained that the algorithm generally funds larger events at higher rates.  Lenny and Ashley stated that the dinner as well as the print copies would be a thank-you to the writers, who were not monetarily compensated. Nonda asked whether Deetz was interested in venturing into the arena of printed word.  Lenny replied that they had solidified copy and were currently searching for investors for next semester.  Nonda went on to say that this was an instance in which the algorithm frustrated her, since inadequate financial support for this club could lead to its eventual decline and fall, as opposed to causing the vibrant flourishing of the club thanks to the power of funds.    Ken moved to approve $150.00 for the printed copies, but no funding for the end-of-semester dinner, and Nonda seconded.  Xochiltl moved that one of the copies be archival or kept in a public space.  This was seconded and passed by general consent.  The motion passed 9-0-3 with Xochiltl, Rob, and Patrick abstaining.
Newman Catholic Society	End-of-semester Mass	$204.35	Patrick moved, Dominique seconded, passed 10-0-2 with Patrick and Denise abstaining
Hillel	Hanukkah Study Break	$47.62	Patrick moved, Dominique seconded, passed 11-0-1 with Patrick abstaining
Delta Omicron Tao	Super Heroes and Villains	$450.05	Patrick moved, Alison seconded, passed 10-0-2 with Patrick and Nonda abstaining
Friends of Women Resource Center	Women And Gender In The Workplace Talk	$32.00	Patrick moved, Andrew seconded, passed 11-0-1 with Patrick abstaining

 

 

 

b.     PR Study Break

 

Ryan asked what PR would do over the next week.  Dominique said that she was planning on a more social type of study break, which would involve large pizzas from Pizza Loca as well as music outside of the SAC.  For advertising, she planned on chalking the quad, posting in the Oxy Digest, and creating posters.  In the absence of a proposal, Alison asked that Dominique send out a document after the approval of funds so that she could be sure as to the purpose for which they were being used.  Devon Puglia recommended not holding the event at all, as he considered it immoral for Senate to use student funds for the purpose of promoting themselves. 

 

Ken moved to approve $150 for the study break from the Leadership Fund, Santiago seconded, and the motion was passed by general consent. 

 

C.    Campus Culture Committee

 

a.     Individual Project Reviews

Ryan asked Denise, the number one stunna, to tell the Senate about her individual projects.  She said that she had mostly worked on cultural graduations, making connections with the ICC, Dean Avery, and former president Prager, and also that Monikah would be taking over this project in her absence.  She had also pushed for working vending machines in front of the library, which had been a great success, although nothing had come of her quest for extended Cooler hours.  Andrew would spearhead both of these projects in the future.  She had e-mailed Facilities to discover the possibilities of installing a rail for the disabled between Fowler and Johnson, but had received no response.

 

Tilak told the Senate that he would be taking over that project during Denise’s studies abroad.  He added that he was currently organizing sources for the multicultural history project, and would hopefully be able to present in March during History Week. 

 

Andrew said that the web site should be up after break, reported that Dean Frank was happy with the prospect of the First Year Reading Committee, and added that he would work on extending the range of the Campus Ride vans.  Kenna recommended that he e-mail Jeff Cromwell. 

 

Nonda told the Senate that she had realized that making the campus environmentally friendly would not be an overnight process, but that her victory for the semester was passing the Environmental Fund Amendment.   Ken asked if there had been any talk about developing structures or bylaws for the Environmental Fund, to which Nonda replied that she would be discussing this with Henry and Kenna over break. 

 

Xochiltl said that she had helped open trainer availability to students, and that one of the trainers would be helping students learn abdominal workouts next Tuesday and Thursday.  She had posted these “Beating The Bulge” sessions in the Oxy Digest. 

 

Rob told the Senate that he was still working on obtaining newspaper subscriptions; he would most likely get next semester, as he needed to work more with the cosponsoring department heads.  He was also working on a community living space, and was meeting to draft a proposal the next day.  Simultaneously, Rob was studying the bills of rights of other schools so that Occidental could adopt one. 

 

Ryan remarked that he had spoken with Jim Tranquada concerning the History Project, and that Tranquada had revealed the existence of a history book that could possibly be copied or loaned for the purposes of the project and provided him with 15 years of demographic information. 

 

D.    Scholastic Committee Update

 

Ken mentioned that more potential members would need to be interviewed for the Dean of the College Student Advisory Committee in order to get it up and running.  He recommended holding interviews over the phone, as flyers could not be put out on campus this late in the semester.  Xochiltl asked for Ken to clarify the purpose of the committee.  He explained that they discuss such things as the CAE and graduation requirements.  Devon clarified that last year the main topic had been the Office of the Registrar.  Kenna said that the trend was to get students from different majors or areas of interest so that no group would go unrepresented.  Ken replied that he would rather have general experts than interest groups.  Ryan’s only contention with holding interviews over break was that interviewees may drop in and out of e-mail access.  Alison resolved to send out a message before people left for break and then work out the specifics afterwards. 

 

Ryan asked for an update on the textbook project.  Ken stated that it was on hold until further notice, as Don Johnson, a key player, was uninterested in follow-up.  Alison added that they had been working on the Bartender proposal, interviewing committee applicants, and would also discuss the topic Devon brought up, namely the fact that major assignments were due after the drop date.  Ryan recommended contacting Movindri Reddy.  Alternately, one could seek out Mohinder Suresh. 

 

                                                         

a.     Senate Operations Proposals

 

Alison first addressed the webmaster proposal (link?).  Once it was discovered that the webmaster already turns in hourly timesheets in to Kenna and is already paid $8 per hour, the only disputed sentence in the proposal was the one that would place the webmaster under the supervision of the Public Relations Committee.  Kenna noted that if the PR Committee was formally supervising the webmaster, they would need to undergo rigorous supervisor training that could last up to five hours.   She added that if the issue was the performance of the website or the cohesiveness of the working relationship between Ryan and the PR Committee, that these subjects could be addressed without a proposal. 

 

Patrick agreed that there should be better oversight as far as the tasks of the webmaster.  Xochiltl remarked that PR, Kenna, and the webmaster should tasks to better orient the position, which the amendment would help accomplish.  Ken responded to Kenna’s earlier point by saying that the proposal was not specifically addressing Ryan’s performance, but created a more logical line of supervision and communication between the PR committee and the webmaster.  Dominique noted that Santiago would probably be the committee member this year that would interact the most with the webmaster.  Rob recommended requiring future webmasters to attend Senate meetings, as they may not be presidents.  Kenna replied that last year they ha two webmasters who only updated the calendar and did not attend Senate meetings; their positions were not comparable to the current duties of the webmaster performed by Ryan. 

 

Alison moved to approve the last two sentences of the Webmaster Proposal pending grammar changes.  Santiago seconded, and the proposal was passed 11-0-1 with Dominique abstaining. 

 

Alison then brought forward the Agenda Proposal (link?).  She said that this proposal had been drafted because she believed that no clear rules had been established for creating the agenda, the rules in place were being broken, and that creating the agenda was historically the duty of the Chief Of Staff, an inherently unbiased and relentlessly attractive individual. 

 

Ryan asked if agenda policy was not sufficiently articulated in the Senate bylaws.  Alison replied that all have fallen short of the glory of the rules.  Kenna noted that the president’s duty to create the agenda is specified in the bylaws.  She went on to say that amendments to the bylaws cannot be voted on less than five days after the proposal is presented. 

 

Ryan asked for examples of his bias that were evident in the formation of the agenda.  Alison mentioned the Dance Team incident in which there was no proposal, and also that it didn’t matter to her whether the Chief Of Staff wrote up the agenda; this proposal was more of a call to everyone to play by the rules next semester.  Ryan recommended interpersonal dialogue if somebody had problems with the way he set up the agenda.  Xochiltl mentioned that she had run a club last year under parliamentary procedure, and the chief of staff had often omitted or forgotten to include items in the agenda.  Devon supported the proposal, saying that if he were responsible for drawing up Greek Council’s agenda he would delete ideas that lacked merit. 

 

Denise moved to end discussion, as no action could currently be taken. 

B.     President’s Update

 

a.     End of the semester lunch extravaganza

 

Ryan told the Senate that he was thinking of having lunch at 12:30 on Friday, most likely Thai. 

 

b.     Reminder: Hold January 26, 2008, 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM for Mid-Year Training  

c.      Senate Meeting Times Next Semester

 

Kenna asked if anyone had problems with the current time slot; Ken said that he would have comps from 7 to 10 on Tuesdays.  Ryan asked everyone to bring schedules in during Friday’s lunch. 

 

Ryan also mentioned that he had ordered office supplies and would also be using some of the supply funds to connect with the history project.  He had met with Dean Avery concerning Susan Prager’s departure and also what Dean Avery’s office planned to do.  Her office had been working on meal plan options that would be more economical and increase residential occupancy.  Ryan also said that he and Santiago would be working on making a more aesthetically pleasurable web site as well as publicizing it. 

 

V. Open Forum

A.     General Comments

Rob asked if there was a way to recapture meal plan money; Ryan replied that this issue would be part of the revamping of the meal plan process.  Dominique let the Senate know that for the entire semester she had left meetings frustrated and angry, since she was not accustomed to writing proposals in order to effect any change, and that if senators either had a problem with her or wanted to know the specifics of her grievances they could speak to her personally.  Devon recognized Mike and Patrick for being in charge of Funding Requests, and also Kenna for balancing many things.  He also recommended that Senate take on smaller, achievable goals, and that they make Senate meetings more open to the student body. 

 

Kenna asked the Senate to reflect upon expectations, house rules, the funding algorithm, their goals for the semester, and how we all treat one another in Senate over the break. 

 

Santiago asked Ryan to take suggestions from Senators as to what to discuss with administration officials during his meetings with them, and Ryan assented, suggesting putting a schedule of his administration meetings on the internet.  Ryan thanked the Senate and looked forward to a successful semester. 

 

Ken moved to end the meeting, Andrew seconded, and the meeting ended at 8:56.