SENATE MEETING MINUTES

30th LEGISLATURE

NOVEMBER 14, 2006

I.      Call to Order

        Roll Call

II.     Corrections to the Minutes

A.      Approval of Minutes

B.      Approval of Agenda

- President Levin-Stankevich states that Rules Chair McKay will give his report first then we will resume order. Under Rules Chair McKay I am going to add Lt. Carey.
- AVP Janik adds Ad Hoc committee.
- AVP Dapaah adds Advisement.

III.    Rules Chair McKay Report:

A.      Lt. Cary is recognized to give an update.  Lt. Carey states that Open House and Fall Fest went well. The case regarding the death in Porter Hall is still under investigation.

B.      The Rules Committee has 6 pending recognitions and has denied 3. I would like to recognize the Golf Club. The Golf Club is recognized to give a brief description of their club and answer questions.  Floor is open for questions.  Vote is taken to recognize the Golf Club and passes 26 yeas, 0 nays and 1 abstention.  AASO is up for re-recognition.  AASO is recognized to give a brief description of their organization. Floor is open to ask questions.       Vote is taken to re-recognize AASO and passes unanimously. The Asian Student Organization is also up for re-recognition same process as the above.  Floor is open for questions. Vote is taken and passes 26 yeas, 0 nays and 1 abstention.

C.      We will vote on Student Bills #5 and 6 which everyone had 2 weeks to review. I had 2 senators ask questions and I have responded to them.  Student Bill #6 is actually going to be changed to number 5.  This Bill is an addition to the House Rules and I will briefly read it over.  Floor is open for questions.  Treasurer St. Rose would like to amend the House Rules regarding the hat.  I would like to motion that rim hats can be worn above the eyes. Vote is taken and passes 20 yeas, 7 nays and 0 abstentions. Floor is open for questions. Vote is taken on Student Bill #5 and passes 19 yeas, 4 nays and 4 abstentions.  Student Bill #6 pertains to Senate attendance. I will briefly review this. Floor is open for questions.  Senator Antwi makes an amendment to strike sign-ups from the bill.  Senator Dobney 2nd. Floor is open for discussion. Vote is taken on the amendment on Student Bill #6 to strike the attendance issue on signing up for events. AVP Dapaah does a division of the house to do a hand raise. Vote does not pass 11 yeas, 12 nays and 4 abstentions.   Senator Otero makes an amendment to make it ? absence instead of ? absence.  Senator Dobney 2nd. Floor is open for discussion.  Senator Nunez calls to question. AVP Janik 2nd.  Vote is taken to make it ? of an absence instead of ? absence and does not pass 5 yeas, 17 nays and 5 abstentions.  Vote is taken to vote on Student Bill #6 as is. Student Bill #6 is restated.  Senator Antwi does a division of the house to vote by a secret ballot.  Vote is taken to vote by a secret ballot and does not pass 4 yeas, 22 nays and 1 abstention. Vote is taken by raise of hands and passes 15 yeas, 7 nays, and 5 abstentions. I will work on procedures regarding votes so what just happened tonight will be made easier. I will charge the Rules Committee with defining a function for Student Bill #6. That means that the Rules Committee will most likely come out with another bill. There could be a dollar amount or expected participation on it.

D.      Rules Chair McKay would like to see the Rules Committee after the meeting and Senator Perez.

President Levin-Stankevich states that there will be a 5 minute recess. Meeting called back to order.

IV.     President Levin-Stankevich Report:

A.      Cassety update. I forwarded to Steve Schaffer a temporary location plan for the 4th floor.  There are some Faculty, Staff and Students that are upset about this move. We are still not sure if this is going to happen. If you have any concerns please see me.

B.      NCSL Conference.  We have 7 E-Board members going this year and they are charged to come back with a report and a program for the spring semester.

V.      EVP Brady Report:

        A. President Levin-Stankevich states that he will be giving her report today. There are 4 Student at Large nominations. The nominees are: Felton Flowers, Frank Greco, David Blatt and Peter Hirsch.  Floor is open to ask the nominees questions. Vote will be taken for each nominee.  Vote is taken to recognize David Blatt for the Student at Large position and passes 24 yeas, 0 nays and 3 abstentions. Vote is taken to recognize Peter Hirsch for the Student at Large position and passes 23 yeas, 0 nays and 4 abstentions.  Vote is taken to recognize Felton Flowers and passes 22 yeas, 2 nays and 3 abstentions.  Vote is taken to recognize Frank Greco for the Student at Large position and passes 25 yeas, 1 nay and 1 abstention.  I will now swear them in.

B.  I will recognize Ann from NYPIRG to give a report. There will be a Forum for Wind Power on Thursday at 6:30 pm and a toy store for toy safety. We are also having a sleep out for the homeless on November 30th.

VI      Treasurer St. Rose Report:

        A. Questions and Comments

VII.    Standing Committee Reports:

A.      AVP Janik Academic Report:
- Study Day is Friday December 8th.
- I will pass around Part 1 for the Ad Hoc Committee for Dollar Jam. I will recognize Senator Jueckstock to briefly discuss this report with you. Senator Jueckstock briefly goes over the report and encourages the senate to read over the report. At the next senate meeting we hope to have our final report.

B.      AVP Ammirato Community Relations Report:
- Aids Awareness is the last week of November.  I will pass around the sign up sheet again.
- Union Bash is Friday December 1st. I am looking for volunteers for Bingo.

C.      AVP Bush Sports & Rec Report:
- There will be a memo in the mailboxes for tag football.

D.      AVP Dapaah Student Life Report:
- Senior Week is April 30th - May 4th.
- I will meet with my committee tomorrow at 12:00 in the senate chambers.
- Advisement - I went to my committee meeting for college senate and they are asking that we have a petition for new advisement.  There seems to be a lot of complaints from students about advisement.

E.      Senator Pro Tem Agard Report:
- Questions and comments

VIII.   Unfinished Business

A.      Senator Perez is recognized. Senator Perez states that the PR Group has been meeting on Tuesdays at 1:05 pm. We have been discussing the following topics:
1.      Banner
2.      USG column in the Record
3.      Facebook
4.      Calendar
5.      Senator Spirit Day (every other Tuesday)
6.      Excess to Angel (able to e-mail and talk to each other). I would like to motion to form a Ad Hoc Committee for the PR Group. AVP Janik 2nd.  Floor is open for discussion. Vote is taken to form a Ad Hoc Committee for the PR Group and passes 25 yeas, 0 nays and 2 abstentions. President Levin-Stankevich would like to nominate Senator Dobney for the Chair of this committee. Vote is taken to nominate Senator Dobney for the chair of this committee and passes 24 yeas, 0 nays 3 abstentions. Division of  house was requested by AVP Dapaah to vote by raising your hand. Senator Dobney will come back with a list of names on the committee.

AVP Janik would like to nominate Senator Jueckstock for co-chair for the Ad Hoc committee for Dollar Jam. Vote is taken and passes 22 yeas, 1 nay and 4 abstentions.

IX.     New Business - None

X.      Constituents Questions/Announcements

A. Rules Chair McKay states that everyone should have received a contact list. This information is privileged information so please keep it to yourself.

B.      Senator Anderson announces that there is a memorial service for Kimberly Clark in the Fireside Lounge at 4:00 pm.

C.      AVP Janik states that he would like to meet with his committee after the meeting.

D.      Vice Treasurer Mears states that there is a NFTA committee meeting on Thursday at 5:30 pm in the Senate Chambers. There may be some contract changes with NFTA.

XI.     2nd Roll Call

XII.    Meeting adjourned