SENATE MEETING MINUTES
31st LEGISLATURE
FEBRUARY 12, 2008
I. Call to Order
Roll call
II Approval of Agenda
A. President Brady motions to approve the agenda. Senator Yazicilar so moved.
B. President Brady motions to approve the minutes. Senator Hirsch so moved.
III. President Brady Report:
A. New Orleans Conference - I went to a great workshop on Parliamentary procedures. We are very strong with our parliamentary procedures. I found out that a lot of Student Governments barely use their constitution and don’t even know what adjournment means. They don’t even use Robert Rules at all. President Brady states that she would like the Senator’s to rate themselves on a scale of 1 - 5 on how well they know Robert Rules. President Brady states for those of you who don’t you know Robert Rules very well don’t worry that is why we are here. President Brady goes over on how to make a motion. President Brady states she also went to a workshop on how to make student elections better. EVP Perez is recognized to talk on the workshops he went to. EVP Perez states that at one workshop he learned that the Senates job is to keep the E-Board in check. Also, I learned about member retention which they called a phase program. The idea is that there are 5 phases we would follow: (1) Goal setting - where the E-Board comes up with goals that need to be done. This really doesn’t give the Senate any motivation to get these goals done. The idea with goal setting is to get an idea of what the Senate wants. (2) Review the goals agenda since we’ve been in this for a month we need to raise these goals up. (3) When we get together and talk about team issues. (4) When we review and make sure we finish on time. (5) Celebrate our success. Treasurer Gabriel is recognized to talk on workshops she went to. Treasurer Gabriel states that she will elaborate on two of the workshops that she thought were really funny. The first one was 13 ways to improve your Student Government, a couple of topics that jumped out at me were: Survey of Student Body, What do Students want, Marketing Strategies, Transition Plan, Create Strong Documents, Advisors, Organization Reps, Mass e-mails, Website ads, Weekly programming and E-Books. AVP Jueckstock is recognized to report on the workshops she went to. AVP Jueckstock states that she will pass out a detailed sheet of the workshops (see attached [attachments can be viewed in the USG office during business hours]). I went to a Feedback workshop, a Signature program and a Structure workshop. President Brady states if there any questions to please contact us.
B. Nominations - President Brady brings forth Senator Narcisa Nunez for the nomination of Senator Pro Tem. President Brady gives some history on Senator Nunez. Floor is open for discussion. President Brady states seeing there is no discussion we will vote on nominating Senator Narcisa Nunez to Senator Pro Tem. Vote is taken and passes 15 yeas, 0 nays and 1 abstention. I will now bring forth Senator Jamison Stone for nomination of AVP of Academics. President Brady gives some history on Senator Stone. Floor is open for discussion. Senator Stone states he wants to work on a program that only deals with athletes. Senator Kennedy asks what do you plan on doing for the rest of the student body? Senator Stone states he would like to work with standardizing syllabus. President Brady asks if there are any other questions there are no more questions so we will move into vote. Vote is taken and does not pass 7 yeas, 8 nays and 1 abstention. President Brady swears in Narcisa Nunez as Senator Pro Tem.
C. College Senate meeting is this Friday at 3:00 pm.
IV. EVP Perez Report:
A. Food Service Committee - we met last week and some of the issues discussed were vegetarian items and identifying them. If you have a problem or hear of a problem please get worker names, times and dates. Sodexho has been working with us extremely well. Also, Bob Karski would be happy to meet with people in your building if they have any retail dining questions. Another issue that was brought up was that the toasters and microwaves are no longer available. Barnes & Noble has toasters and microwaves that you can use. We are working on bringing them back to the dining area. Our next meeting is Wednesday the 20th and this will be the last meeting I will chair, Senator Pro Tem Nunez will be taking over.
V. Treasurer Gabriel Report:
A. Budget Requests - I have received 2 budget requests one is a Game Show idea from USG and a request from CSO. I will pass around a memo on the details for the Game Show. The Budget Committee has received several budget requests in the amount of $1500 and there were only two I could bring to the Senate and the allocations are as followed. One is the Game Show idea which is called the Hot Seat. AVP Jueckstock is going to be facilitating this program. The Game Show is 60 minutes with 4 rounds and over 100 students can play this game. This event has a tentative date of March 12th and will cost $2,200. The Budget Committee decided that half of the funds will come from AVP Programming and the other half from Academic Assembly. We have about $12,000 left in the Academic Assembly line and VP Programming has $6,000. Seeing that the VP Programming is going to be used for the rest of the semester and for Senior Week I decided to split it up. The remainder in the VP Programming line will be $4,900 and the remainder in the Academic Assembly line will be $11,000 roughly. Senator O’Grady point of information what is the purpose of Academic Assembly? Treasurer Gabriel states the general purpose is that any recognized organization and non-funded organization can apply for funds through Academic Assembly. EVP Perez asks why a game show would be receiving $2,200 from Academic Assembly. The MSA organization asked for funds to put on several Academic and Cultural activities and they are going through a hassle. Treasurer Gabriel states that when she talked to the MSA Treasurer she was happy with the funding she received. What they wanted funding for was to give away prizes and a Islamic book. I researched this online and found out you can print the book off so I thought they could just do that. Senator Manz asks if we will be voting on these two separately or together. Treasurer Gabriel states separately. Senator Manz asks how the Game Show will benefit the students. Treasurer Gabriel states everything is on page two. AVP Jueckstock is recognized. AVP Jueckstock states that it’s a social game show for students to come out and play with cash prizes. Senator Manz asks if it is normal policy to get these right before we are to vote on them, aren’t we suppose to get this a week ahead of time. Treasurer Gabriel states that she is glad this question was asked because this is something I brought this up to Rules & Regulations and it never got approved. President Brady states for Treasurer Gabriel to answer the question. Treasurer Gabriel states that she just had her budget meeting yesterday. Senator O’Grady asks do you want us to vote on this today? Treasurer Gabriel states the motion to vote on this so they can go on with their planning. Senator O’Grady states that he would like to table both motions until next week. Senator Manz 2nd . AVP Jueckstock states there is no Senate meeting next week. President Brady asks if Senator O’Grady would like to restate the motion. Senator O’Grady states he would like to table both motions until the next Senate meeting. Senator Manz 2nd. President Brady states that the motion is up for discussion. Senator Hirsch states we haven’t even addressed the CSO budget request yet, why can’t we do it now it is only 9:35. Senator Yazicilar agrees with Senator Hirsch since we are all here why don’t we vote on this. Treasurer Gabriel call to question. Rules & Regulations Greco states he supports Senator O’Grady to table both motions until the next Senate meeting so that the Rules Committee and Judicial can investigate this. CSO is already funded with $30,000 and we know that this is the cap amount with USG organizations plus an additional $8,000 in our expenses for the Caribash production. I’m not really quite sure how an organization can receive $48,500 from USG when they are capped out at $30,000. Treasurer Gabriel states they don’t have $48,000 they do have $30,000 but the $8,000 is not allocated directed to CSO it is to pay for the stage for their annual Caribash. The stage costs roughly $7,500. Treasurer Gabriel call to question. President Brady states there is a call to previous question by Treasurer Gabriel. Senator Kennedy 2nd. President Brady states we will vote on if we are ready to vote on Senator O’Grady's motion. Vote is taken and does not pass 3 yeas, 5 nays and 7 abstentions. President Brady states we are still on debate of Senator O’ Grady’s motion. AVP Jueckstock states that we do have different programming and maybe this won’t benefit students academically but social programming is a fun time for the students. I would like to point out that you have known about this because it has been on your calendar that papers were put in your mailboxes. Senator Manz states that he is in favor of the motion because he understands that the budget meeting was an emergency meeting but we all have mailboxes and we are told to check them all the time. If this was in our mail box we could have had time to do a background check. Treasurer Gabriel states as far as the Game Show the AVP of Student Life was planning this. There is no AVP of Student Life but this was still brought to the Budget Committee. Treasurer Gabriel asks if she can recognize someone from CSO to speak on their behalf. President Brady asks if there are any objections and there are none. Keisha Thomas from CSO is recognized. Keisha states that she is the Treasurer for CSO and Caribash is an annual event. This event portrays our Caribbean music and dance and with this we try to bring in an artist from the Caribbean to perform for the Buffalo region and the school. In the past USG has funded this event and gave us $5,000 to have this event. Now because of the budget cap we are working with $30,000 instead of $32,000 so we are working with less money. In order to have a successful event you have to have a good artist and a good artist costs about $20,000. Senator Hirsch states he was on the budget committee last year and we did make the budget cap last year. We did give CSO $8,000 for production and stage equipment and with that we approved the $30,000 and $8,000 was a separate allocation. President Brady reminds everyone that we are not voting if we are accepting the motion we are voting on whether we are going to table this until next Senate meeting. EVP Perez votes to support Senator O’Grady’s motion because we have such a detailed outline for the Game Show but have no idea where the money is going for Caribash. Treasurer Gabriel states that she is against Senator O’Grady’s motion because the Game Show is coming up in a couple of weeks. Senator O’Grady point of information; am I allowed to speak last? President Brady consults with Rules and Regulations Greco. President Brady asks Senator O’Grady to speak. Senator O’Grady states if Rules & Regulations Greco is correct it puts both CSO and USG in a legal bind and I would also like a detailed outline of CSO’s money. Senator Kennedy asks why are we voting on both motions. Treasurer Gabriel states CSO’s request is going for artist fees they need this money. Senator Stone asks if Caribash is under the campus agreement. Treasurer Gabriel states yes it is for clean up, UPD etc. Senator Manz asks what is the cap? Treasurer Gabriel states $30,000. Senator Manz asks if they spend $15,000 on an artist what lines are they using? Treasurer Gabriel states Caribash. Senator Manz asks what is the $3,500 for. Treasurer Gabriel states to go to Caribash for artist fees. Rules & Regulations Greco asks if they have applied for any grants. EVP Perez states yes but they were denied. Senator O’Grady asks if this will put them over the cap. Treasurer Gabriel states no it is a grant. Treasurer Gabriel call to question. President Brady states we will vote on call to question and does vote does not carry 10 yeas, 6 nays and 0 abstentions. Senator Manz motions to table CSO request. Senator O’Grady 2nd. Treasurer Gabriel secedes time to Tikia. Tikia states unless we know about the money it is hard to give an itemized budget. We need to get an artist ASAP or it will cost more money. President Brady asks if there are any more questions. Senator Manz asks why wouldn’t you come prepared if you were turned down for the same reasons. Also, if we gave you the money and there was some left what would you do with it. Keisha states that the Treasurer did receive an itemized budget and fees were estimated, if there is any additional money it would be used. President Brady states they don’t actually have the full $14,000 do to previous programs. Senator Yazicilar asks if CSO could compare last years budget to this years and why weren’t you prepared. Treasurer Gabriel states $26,000 along with $5,000 and like stated they need to know before they can book. Tikia states that the artist costs $15,000 an all inclusive cost of $17,500 if we don’t get them now that could change. Senator O’Grady asks if CSO has backups. Tikia states yes but they are just as expensive. President Brady recognizes Lynn Korn. Lynn states they are short because they had to pay a bill and Dollar Jam they have about $12,000. Senator Manz asks if they are aware it is just $3,500. Tikia states yes. Senator Manz asks Treasurer Gabriel when this came to the Budget Committee did CSO agree with the $3,500. Treasurer Gabriel states they were alerted. Senator Manz states if they asked for $5,000 why did the Budget Committee decide $3,500 and what would it go to and why the drop? Treasurer Grabriel states we received a budget proposal with a breakdown for artist fees and the decision to drop the amount was made by the budget committee. Senator Pro Tem Nunez asks if it is coming from Academic Assembly. Treasurer Gabriel states a grant for recognized organizations typically for unfunded organizations. Senator Pro Tem Nunez asks how will this effect unfunded organizations? Senator Carrasquillo call to question. Senator Stone states that he doesn’t understand why we should be responsible to fund a group that has reached their cap. Rules & Regulations Greco asks why didn’t MSA get full programming. Treasurer Gabriel states we gave them what they needed not food. Rules & Regulations Greco asks what was their request and how much did they get. Treasurer Gabriel states we asked them if it was enough and they agreed. Senator Yazicilar states that she was not there for the MSA vote but was aware of it. Senator Manz asks how many were there for the vote? Rules & Regulations Greco states 2 out of 3 and 2 is a majority. Senator Pro Tem Nunez asks wasn’t there a motion on the table. AVP Hassan call to question. President Brady states we are voting to table CSO’s request. Vote is taken and does not pass 6 yeas, 9 nays and 1 abstentions. Treasurer Gabriel states to please vote. Senator Kennedy asks how many students can play the Game Show. AVP Jueckstock states 100. Senator Manz asks how will they be picked? AVP Jueckstock states first come first serve. President Brady states we will vote on the Game Show for $2,200. Senator Manz asks how is VP money used. President Brady states EVP Perez fills the spot. Senator Manz asks do we agree on it and where does it come from? AVP Jueckstock states it is just a pool and its pulled from as needed. EVP Perez asks how much is left? Treasurer Gabriel states its on page 3. AVP Jueckstock states social programming is already budgeted. President Brady states we will vote to approve $2,200 for the Game Show vote is taken and passes 11 yeas, 4 nays and 1 abstention. AVP Jueckstock states she is in favor of the CSO motion because planning concerts is difficult and they do a good job. Senator O’Grady states that he applauds their ambition but he is against the motion. Treasurer Gabriel states the money is going to artists fees and planning concerts is hard. Senator Manz states that he is against this and he has questions for Tikia. I am wondering when CSO started to plan this, when did they know they would need money, why did you wait so long and is there really an itemized list. Treasurer Gabriel states that the Senate wants and itemized budget but all of this is going for artist fees. Tikia states that planning for this started in December and we always needed more money. Campus events are expensive and we assumed we would get $5,000 for having the event on campus, USG promised they would help. Senator Yazicilar asks what will happen if you don’t get the money. President Brady states the program will not happen. President Brady states we will vote on the CSO request. Senator Pro Tem Nunez asks to have a secret ballot. President Brady accepts. Vote is taken to approve $3,500 for CSO Caribash and passes 8 yeas, 6 nays and 2 abstentions. Senator Manz asks in the future so we don’t have to nit pick for 3 hours could we get these a little earlier. Treasurer Gabriel states once she has a Budget Committee and they meet regularly you can get them on time. EVP Perez thanks everyone for having to put up with everything that just happened in the meeting.
VI. Standing Committee Reports
A. AVP Jueckstock Communications Report:
- Tabling - please check you schedule to see when you need to table.
- Open camp weekend is Saturday March 1 to Sunday March 2. There are 2 sign up sheets, one if you are taking the bus and the other if you have your own transportation. The sign up sheets are on the bulletin board next to the copy room. Senator Manz asks how Movie Night and the Flower sale went. AVP Jueckstock states the flower sale went well. EVP Perez states the Movie Night was a success.
B. AVP Hassan Community Affairs Report:
- Bengal 5K Run - we need volunteers, runners and walkers.
- Volunteer Fair is tomorrow.
- Camp Clean Up - we are going to help clean the camp site. We are looking for volunteers.
C. Rules & Regulations Greco Report:
- Re-Recognition Schedule will be available tomorrow.
VII. New Business: None
VIII. Old Business
A. President Brady recognizes Senator Desimone. Senator Desimone gives an update on her Ad Hoc Committee. I spoke to John Innocent and there seems to be a lot of finger pointing. Tower 4 was robbed again this time it was on the 7th floor. There was a Fire Safety Marshall who walked into our rooms and tore our stuff off the walls and took our extension cords. EVP Perez suggests that you should let The Record and the Buffalo News know that people are dodging you regarding the Tower robberies. Senator Desimone states that we have contacted channel 7 News and another station but we need to talk to them again.
IX. Constituents Questions/Announcements
A. Senator O’Grady asks what it going on with the Student Life Committee. EVP Perez states he discussed this with Lynn and we are currently working on this. They have plans set already so I don’t want to change their course. The Committee meetings are something I am going to have to work out.
B. Lynn Korn states that even though tabling is not mandatory please come out and help. EVP Perez states in the past tabling was mandatory.
C. Treasurer Gabriel states she would like to meet with her Budget Committee after the meeting.
D. Treasurer from PASO announces that they are having a program called a “A Toast for Change” on Saturday at 5:00 in the Assembly Hall.
X. 2nd Roll Call