SENATE MEETING MINUTES

31st LEGISLATURE

FEBRUARY 26, 2008

 

 

I.            Call to Order

            Roll Call

 

II.            Approval of Agenda

            A. President Brady asks if there are any changes to the agenda and there are none.           

            B.  President Brady states that the minutes have not been approved from last weeks meeting.           

 

III.            President Brady Report:

A.   Please make a point of privilege if you have to leave the room.

B.    Bengal 5K representative is missing.

C.    AVP Jueckstock is absent so I will give her report.  This Saturday is open camp weekend the bus will leave Grover Cleveland Circle at 10:00 am.  USG runs the camp, you should see what we have to offer, and I highly recommend you to go.  Food will be provided.

D.   Tomorrow I have a meeting with the Administration to talk about NFTA and the transfer.

 

IV.            EVP Perez Report:

A.   Springfest Committee will be started; we need volunteers to help with the manual labor.

B.    Banquet Committee will be started, we need help deciding the theme, food, etc, so please join and help me out.

C.    Game Room Committee meeting will be tomorrow at 1:00 pm in the Game Room Conference room 105H.

D.   Senate Nominations - I would like to bring forth the following nominations for Senate:  Ian Mirsky, Tiffany Peddicord, Keisha Dobney, Peelahr Moore, Clifford Cawthon and Justin Rose.  I would like to bring the following nominations for Student at Large’s: Laura Freeburg, Anne Foss, Megan Shaver and Renea Johnson.  Nominations are recognized to speak on their behalf, introduce themselves and reasons for joining USG.  President Brady states each nomination will be voted on individually and we will go nays, yeas and abstentions. Vote is taken to nominate Ian Mirsky as Senator and passes 0 nays, 15 yeas and 1 abstention.  Vote is take to nominate Tiffany Peddicord as Senator and passes 0 nays, 15 yeas and 1 abstention.  Vote is taken nominate Keisha Dobney as Senator and passes 0 nays, 16 yeas and 0 abstentions. Vote is taken to nominate Peelahr Moore and passes 0 nays, 15 yeas and 1 abstention.  Vote is taken to nominate Clifford Cawthon and passes 0 nays, 14 yeas and 2 abstentions.  Vote is taken to nominate Justin Rosie and passes 0 nays, 15 yeas and 1 abstention.  President Brady states we will now vote on the Student at Large’s.  Vote is taken to nominate Laura Freeburg as Student at Large and passes 0 nays, 15 yeas and 1 abstention. Vote is taken to nominate Anne Foss and passes 0 nays, 15 yeas and 1 abstention. Vote is taken to nominate Megan Shaver and passes 0 nays, 15 yeas and 1 abstention.  Vote is taken to nominate Renea Johnson as Student at Large and passes 0 nays, 16 yeas and 0 abstentions.  President Brady swears in nominated Senator’s and Student at Large’s.

 

V.            Treasurer Gabriel Report:                       

            A.  Questions & Comments

 

VI.            Senator Pro Tem Nunez Report:

A.   Liaison evaluations were distributed to organizations; I have received a few back.  I will be working on the Liaison system to gauge the effectiveness, so expect some changes. Liaison reports will be due on April 8th, please complete them and go beyond the paperwork and communicate with your organizations.

B.    The E-Board has voted Senator Desimone for Senator of the month. Senator Desimone really put herself out there and impressed us; we would like to congratulate Senator Desimone.  Please see Treasurer Gabriel for your prize.

C.    Food Service meeting will be this Tuesday at 1:00 pm, then every other Tuesday after that.

D.   I am passing around a contact list, please update your info.

 

VII.            Standing Committee Reports

A.   AVP Hassan Community Affairs Report:
- I hope everyone went to the Volunteer Fair on February 28th.  There will be a Volunteer 101 in Grover Cleveland on how to choose your organization. Please fill out these Greek Feud surveys.

 

B.    Rules & Regulations Greco Report:
- Every 3 years organizations have to go through the re-recognition process. There will be a schedule posted on my door so if you are a liaison for an organization please let them know.  Packets have been put in their mailboxes it looks like all but 2 have been picked up.  We will be meeting with the organizations on Monday and then they will come to the Senate meeting on Tuesday. We are aiming to get complete this process within the month. 
- Election packets are due this Thursday at 3:00 pm, there is a blue box that your packets have to go into.  President Brady states if you are interested on being on the Senate but don’t want to go through the interview process there is a sheet you can fill out.  Please get them in on time. Senator Dobney asks are the packets due at 3:00 pm because the packets say 4:00 pm.  Rules & Regulations Greco states to go by what the packets say.

 

VIII.            New Business

A.   President Brady recognizes Senator Cawthon. Senator Cawthon states that the cost of going to college has risen, and I wish to propose a bill called the book affordability bill.  The purpose of the bill is to create a book accessibility fund where we could provide vouchers for students to help pay for books.  The information and description of the bill and statistics can be found in the bill.  This is open to amendments and suggestion, questions etc.  President Brady asks if there are any questions on the bill.  Treasurer Gabriel asks do you want to pass a bill that sets aside a pool of money to help pay for books.  Like a book deferment?  Senator Cawthon states this is similar but more open to students where deferments are not.  Treasurer Gabriel asks if there is a cap on the amount a voucher consists of?  Senator Cawthon states yes, this would be a 7 dollar voucher, and I wanted your suggestions and opinions on it being a new Senator. Senator Hirsch point of information does the motion on the table need to be seconded.  President Brady states this is not a motion it is a new idea.  Senator Dobney asks can this be tabled so we can get our own copies to look at.  President Brady states since the Senate does not have copies which is understandable because you are just proposing it we will not be voting on it tonight.  I would like at least a week for the Senate to review anything that is in paper so they will be prepared to discuss it.  Senator Cawthon states he realizes that he does not have enough copies for everyone but if you would like he could electronically sent it to you. President Brady states that you could give a copy to our secretary Cindy and she will make copies of it for you and distribute it to the Senate.  Any more new business? There is no more new business.

 

IX.            Old Business

A.   President Brady recognizes Senator Desimone.  Senator Desimone informs the Senate that Tower 4 is having a safety meeting this Thursday at 8:30 with Mike Heflin so that people can ask him questions directly.  The meeting will be held on the first floor lobby.

B.    President Brady states that she will be talking to Weigel Health Center about the health fee increase and the visible results of it.

C.    President Brady recognizes Senator Manz.  Senator Manz asks if we are doing anything with Pride Alliance in regards to speaker Lance Bass.  President Brady says I believe AVP Jueckstock is involved in the endeavor; we’ll get an update on that next week.

 

X.             Constituents Questions/Announcements 

A.  President Brady introduces Britney Abbey a past judicial member.  Britney explains that she was on Judicial Council last year, and had a close friend who passed away so she took a semester off.  I’m back and wish to return to Judicial Council.  President Brady asks if anyone has any questions for Britney seeing there are none we will move into vote. Vote is taken and passes 22 yea, 0 nays and 0 abstentions.  President Brady swears in Britney Abbey for Judicial Council.

B.    Senator Manz states that it was brought to his attention that they have new bike in the gym that have TV’s on them.  I guess there is talk that they are going to get rid of them because they are too expensive, is there anything we can do to help with that?  President Brady states that the fitness center contracts equipment from different companies, and we get trial periods of new equipment.  If you have any concerns about this you can see AVP Hassan of Community Affairs. Senator Manz states he is on her committee.

C.    Senator Yazicilar announces March 13th, 5 pm, Model UN will be hosting an Awareness Night in human trafficking, refreshments will be provided in the Assembly Hall.  I spoke to Senator Desimone about the Rds having a committee go the Residence Halls and educate them on safety and securing their personal items.  Please get involved, campus security is important.  We could also go to doors that are unlocked and leave notes saying “Your laptop has been stolen” just to heighten awareness.

D.   Senator Kennedy announces that on Saturday March 8th my mentoring group that works with young kids will be bringing a speaker to talk about voting rights.  We would like the BSC community to come out and learn more about voting and voting rights.  Tickets are $40 but BSC students can buy tickets for $20 and transportation is provided.

E.    Senator Cawthon announces that the local Obama campaign will be sending students and individuals to Cleveland Ohio and I intend to go with them this weekend.  If anyone was interested in campaigning for Obama let me know.  In June there will be a US-Cuba friendship caravan that sends aid packages to Cuba and spend 8 days in Havana, we need people to help spread awareness on issues with US-Cuban relations and help the disenfranchised.

F.    Senator Lane announces this Friday is the annual Mr. & Mrs. Mahogany pageant.  Also, AASO and Model UN meet every Monday in the Political Science department.

G.   Treasurer Gabriel states that she would like to make the Senate aware of a grievance filed by Senator Manz against the Senate.  President Brady states that Senator Manz does have a case, and is challenging the $3500 dollar allocation to CSO, regarding its constitutionality.

H.   Senator Yazicilar announces that ISO will be meeting during Bengal Pause the will be planning their International Fiesta; they are looking for ideas especially if they are free.

I.      Senator O’Grady asks if he can recognize the Justices.  President Brady states   we will when we recognize the Gallery.

J.     Senator Mirsky announces that SPS will be meeting every other Thursday at 12:15 p.  I would also like to propose that USG maybe work towards getting more computers in the library.  President Brady stated to meet with AVP Hassan, but there are space issues and limits on capacity. There is talk of expansion of the library in College Senate, so your concern will be noted.  Senator Desimone states that she works in the library, and they will be installing new computers soon, you can also loan a laptop from the library in the reference room for 2 hours, so take advantage of it.

K.   Justice Zomerfeld states that as captain of the American Mock Trial, we competed last week in Syracuse and we did very well.  I came back with the Regional Attorney Award, and I was very proud to represent BSC.

L.    Erin from NYPIRG gives a report.  Today we were supposed to meet with the legislator to speak about the bigger better bottle bill.  Unfortunately, due to the weather we had to cancel. Last Thursday we had our student action meeting, turnout was good, and committee meetings were established.  Meet with me if you are interested in any specific committee or NYPIRG in general, please stop by my office.  On February 13th, President Brady and I went to a press conference and President Brady got to speak on behalf of BSC students and NYPIRG, you can watch the conference on UB’s website.

M.  President Brady states that next week we will be doing the budget.  Senator Manz asks will we be getting the budget to review before the meeting. Treasurer Gabriel states yes but there are confidentiality issues, you can’t show it to any of the organizations because it is not passed. President Brady recognizes Lynn Korn.  Lynn states that the budget first goes to the Budget Committee then it is returned to the organizations.  The organizations review it and if they want to appeal it they can setup a meeting with the Budget Committee. After the Budget Committee finalizes it then the Senate will receive a copy to review.  President Brady states that it is Re-recognition that begins next week.

N.   Senator Kennedy states to please return your surveys when the meeting is over.

O.   Senator Pro Tem Nunez asks the Senate to please come out to camp; it’ll be a good chance to get to know each other.

P.    EVP Perez announces if you would like to meet and speak about Robert Rules and House Rules please make an appointment with me, and don’t feel uncomfortable.

 

XI.            2nd Roll Call

           

XII.            Meeting adjourned.