SENATE MEETING MINUTES

31st LEGISLATURE

APRIL 22, 2008

 

 

I.            Call to Order

            Roll Call

 

II.            Approval of Agenda

A.   President Brady motions to approve the agenda.  Senator Alinur so moved.

B.    President Brady motions to approve last weeks minutes. AVP Jueckstock so moved.

 

III.            President Brady Report:

A.   I would like to remind everyone to please remember the house rules, no hats, two turns to speak and 5 minutes to speak. No cross debate.

B.    Student Assembly is this weekend, we will be leaving on Friday. I would like the delegates to see me after the meeting.

 

IV.            EVP Perez Report:

A. Please RSVP to the banquet if you haven’t already.

B. I need people to help me put at the Poker Tournament.  Please sign up and let me know if

    you know how to play or if you’d like to learn. The tournament is this Monday.

 

V.            Senator Pro Tem Nunez Report:

A. Food Service met and spoke about the general complaints of students; again it was the service please notify the managers when you have a problem. They’re looking to find a new rotation for next semester for Jump to see if students like it. The Student Union will be open until 2 am next semester. A comment box will be available with a comment board to offer your responses. They’re still trying to find a place for the microwave, electricity is a problem. They are looking at extending the hours for next semester. I have a response to Senator Yazicilar question regarding the bags at the sub connection they told me they have to look into it with the company. Some venues will be open over the summer. Senator Yazicilar asks if there was any response to the kosher food issue, and has anyone looked at providing trays for people eating in the Union. Senator Pro Tem Nunez says that’s a good suggestion, I’ll bring it forth at the next meeting. In regards to the kosher food they are ironing out the menu now.

 

VI.            Standing Committee Reports

A.   AVP Jueckstock  Communications Report:
- I would like to thank everyone that helped out with the Scavenger Hunt.  Also, please keep in mind to tell Seniors about the Senior dinner and come out to the Senior week events.

B.    AVP Hassan Community Affairs Report:
-  I would like to thank everyone who came out for the great Earth Day clean up.

C.    Rules & Regulations Chair Greco Report:
-  I’m handing out Student Bill #2, we will go through it together page by page, so save your questions for when we may reach them. We're going to start off on page 4, which offers a description of our structure. These are all the things left over from the changes that were made last year; this has been worked on and spoken about for 2 years now. (Rules Chair Greco shows a Overhead Presentation). Rules Chair Greco states that the function of this Bill is to take us back to our roots and make the meetings run smoother. The AVP’s would move over to the Senate, the E-Board would be the President, Vice President, Treasurer, and Vice Treasurer. The E-Board should be involved in the bigger picture; they should be

   the guiding force, as opposed to the day to day stuff. The Senate would remain the same.

   My position would be removed and renamed to Attorney General and join the Judiciary.

   Flip it over to page 6. The top sentence just re-iterates everything I spoke about. The big change with the Senator Pro Tem will be that they are nominated and elected by the Senate. The Senator Pro Tem was created in 1977, and you can see what they were meant to do. This position was decided by the Senate with a 2/3 vote.  The purpose of this position was to lead the Senate and interact with the E-Board. There was no one there to report to the Senator’s, and that’s why this bridge was built. It was totally voluntary. Over the years it snowballed to joining the E-Board with this position having a vote in the E- Board and the Senate. The position was just meant to lead the Senate. I didn’t understand why the E-Board was manipulating the Senate and how it worked. I got rid of shall assist the Vice President to further emphasize the separation. There are some name changes as well. I also changed how the excusal system works; having two people who can excuse Senator’s is too confusing and complex, so this will help smooth that out. The Rules Committee would no longer exist. The Senate Cabinet Committee would be the AVP’s (Chairpersons) and the Senator Pro Tem, so they can meet every week and plan programming and co-ordinate. Last year we eliminated one AVP position and replaced it with another in the hopes of bridging the gap and aiding programming. I believe this system will help make that possible. I have eliminated the Rules Committee because the whole purpose of this committee is to hope some student will come and give us a group recognition sheet.  I noticed that the Justices function the same way. Rather than tie up ten people, I changed it so that the Justices would handle all of this. The Justices are lifetime appointments, the Senators and I are here for one year. If the Justices can look over the requirements and make sure they’re met, they could approve it. Since they are a lifetime appointment, they can bring that experience and look back at the past when they are considering approving an organization. At the request of Senator Desimone I added the USG Campus Safety Committee. We thought we were being new and creative, but then I found an act in 1978 that approved a Campus Safety Committee which fulfilled all the same functions as the current committee. I don’t know what happened to it but I would like to bring it back with this bill. The name changes make it seem like the committees are more integrated together than the executive feel it has right now. Hopefully the name change will help foster feelings of equality and equal leveling. Looking at all of the old bills, all this new bill is doing is trying to bring us back to our roots. I want to make the Senate equal and strong again. The EVP was changed to focus their objective, to make it more a campus wide focus not just helping and aiding student organizations. They would focus on things like the Student Union changes and student spirit, along with great ideas. The position of Vice Treasurer is just to inquire on the health of the Treasurer, I don’t see why they have a say in the overall running of everything. Senator Pro Tem is no longer on the E-Board, as well as the Chairpersons and the Attorney General. The Attorney General shall be nominated by the Justices and voted on by the Senate. I also defined a student service; we knew what a service was but never defined it in the Constitution. I added the Justice of the Year award for the Justices. President Brady asks if anyone has changes, when you would like them to see you. Rules Chair Greco states my email is USGruleschair@gmail.com, or they can see me during my office hours. I would really like to meet with every single one of you because I know you have opinions I may not have considered. President Brady opens the floor for discussion.  Senator Cawthon states that he really likes the bill, but I think it brings a lot back to the representation and students.  In regards to giving students more power, with the complete elimination of the Rules Committee, do you have any additional actions to supplement that? Will you add a promotional campaign along with this streamlining of the government? Rules Chair Greco states that there was a gap and that’s why we created the AVP of Communications last year. Their goal will be the same; the only benefit that I can see is by having the Justices look at the Constitution.  This way it removes their bias and emotions from their decisions. There are seven qualifications for becoming a club, and all we do is  make sure they meet them. The Justices will be there for years at a time and could bring this experience to their decisions. A lot of what we do in USG is by watching and learning. Everything we do is based off of precedents. Senator Yazicilar asks as the Rules Chair, does he actually have the right to come up with this Bill? President Brady states it is part of his job, he is not saying he is for or against it. Rules Chair Greco states he has no vote, and one of the duties of the legislative branch is to pass legislation for the general welfare of the student body. I wish you could look at Student Bill #7. Senator Cawthon states that Rules Chair Greco didn’t answer his question completely. My second comment is that the Attorney General has a lot of police power, so I would think this position should be elected as opposed to appointed. You were talking about opening up the government to the students. Rules Chair Greco states that would be the job of the AVP of Communications to inform them on how to create a group.  I myself carry the information with my constantly. This bill does not force anyone to do their job; it just points them in the right direction. The reason I moved it over to Judicial Council was because how can you hold your boss accountable for something when they are above you.  By moving me to Judicial Council it would allow them to focus on legality and rules as opposed to groups. All the Senators will have to confirm the nomination in the end, and it is a nomination not an appointment so the Senator’s can turn it down. Senator Mirsky asks when Rules Chair Greco has office hours. Rules Chair Greco states Monday, Wednesday and Friday 11 am - 3 pm.  Senator Dobney states that she feels sympathetic to the Senators who were not here last year, this was one of the first conversations we had last year. They are absolutely right that when everyone comes to the meetings not everyone speaks, this was an ongoing thing for a lot of people.  I would strongly suggest you work with Frank to share your input. President Brady states that we have to be out by 11 pm and we still have the budget to talk about. Senator Stone states to please come and talk to Rules Chair Greco about this it is just a continuation of what was being worked on.

 

VII.            Treasurer Gabriel Report:

A.  I have copies of the budget analysis, it breaks down the budget further and this sums it up in about three pages. I know a lot of you have requests about those who did not receive funding I will go through the handout. Are there any questions on the analysis? Senator Mirsky asks if these are the only clubs in question. Treasurer Gabriel states no. Senator Manz asks if there is a reason why we didn’t get the others in this packet. Treasurer Gabriel states that there are organizations that received none, some received as requested, some were cut and some were increased by 10%. The 10% we will vote on separately. The organizations that received less than 10% are not listed. President Brady states that Treasurer Gabriel will respond to questions that she received on paper. Treasurer Gabriel states one question was why there is a budget production line for Fall Fest of $8,000 if there is no Fall Fest. It was submitted to us that some individuals wanted to get rid of Fall Fest. Since this has been a topic of discussion, the money was meant for a speaker series and I will be changing the name of the production line to the Speaker series line. I would like to propose an amendment to move the Caribash production money and add it to the Speaker series line under External Programs making the Speaker series line a total $23,000.  The reasoning behind this is that the Caribash money will not be necessary. It has also been stated by Judicial that they can not get any additional funding. Therefore the additional money will go into the Speaker series line. The second change will be the Fall Fest production line to the Special Events production line. The reasoning is that when the Committee decided to change Fall Fest they didn’t realize that the production line name needed to be changed. So we will change the Fall Fest production line to Special Events production line.  EVP Perez asks will that production line only be for the USG events or is it meant for member organization events as well.  Treasurer Gabriel states USG events only. Senator Manz asks so are you saying there will be no Fall Fest there would just be a Speaker series.  Treasurer Gabriel states yes. Senator Stone asks who decides there would be no Fall Fest and what minutes would this be in.  We still haven’t received Budget Minutes, so who proposed this? Treasurer Gabriel states that she has some of the Budget Minutes but some are held by an individual who volunteered to take our minutes but has not given me the minutes. Senator O'Grady asks if that is really an acceptable excuse because I would like to see the rationale behind some of these decisions. Treasurer Gabriel states the Budget Committee is here if you would like to ask them any questions. Senator Yazicilar states that Treasurer Gabriel is not a voting member, so please ask the Budget Committee for our opinions. Senator Cawthon states in addition to Senator Yazicilar question, of course it’s your job to scrutinize us.  Fall Fest is a huge endeavor that requires a lot of funds where we could put them to a positive use elsewhere. Senator Dobney says I’m trying to clarify this; we have a Fall Fest production line that is $6,000 which you want to move to a Speaker line? Treasurer Gabriel states no, it’s just a name change from Fall Fest to Special Events production. The Caribash production is going to be added to the Speaker Series line which will bring it to $23,000. Senator Dobney asks if they only requested $10,000, do they really need the money. Treasurer Gabriel states what we decided was to reallocate funding to allow for educational programming like a distinguished Speaker Series. Senator Dobney asks what if we just gave them $15,000 to the Speaker Series and put the rest of the money into the Special Events line to help compensate for other events. Where did the $40,000 that we don’t need any more for Fall Fest go? Treasurer Gabriel states $20,000went into Spring  Fest and some went into the Speaker Series line, the rest of the money was allocated to different areas throughout the entire budget. AVP Jueckstock states that for those of you who are not clear on this, EVP Perez and I are the ones who requested the Fall Fest change. Every year Fall Fest has been declining, so we said why not make Spring Fest bigger and then help promote more on campus programming with the rest of the money. Senator Manz states that he would just like something clarified, was it the Budget Committee who decided to get rid of Fall Fest? Also, do you have the minutes with you for that meeting and the proposals? Treasurer Gabriel states yes the Budget Committee approved all of this, but I do not have the proposals or the minutes with me. There are three meetings I do not have minutes for because that individual will not give them to me. Senator Cawthon ask in regards to the Speaker Series, when are you going to decide on who comes to speak. Senator Yazicilar comments that the individual was approached regarding the Budget Minutes and they want nothing to do with the Senate at this time. Therefore, it is not Treasurer Gabriel’s fault that this person does not care, I’ve asked for them myself and they would not give them to me. Senator O'Grady motions to amend the amendment to change the Fall Fest production to the Speaker Series production. President Brady states that the discussion will be on the motion of changing the Fall Fest production line to the Speaker Series production.  Treasurer Gabriel 2nd. Senator Manz asks since this came from Treasurer Gabriel and she 2nd it, do we really need to talk about it? Rules & Regulations Greco states yes, because it is in possession of the body so you have to vote on it. President Brady asks if there are any more questions and there are none. Treasurer Gabriel makes a motion to take the Caribash production money and add it to the Speaker Series line totaling $23,000 and then changing Fall Fest production to Speaker Series production.  President Brady states we will now move into vote.  Vote taken is taken and passes 21 yeas, 0 nay and 0 abstentions. Another question that was asked was why the Geology Club increased by double.  Treasurer Gabriel the increase of 131% was based on their activity and their membership. I sign their purchase orders and I saw their activities, they go on multiple expeditions, their membership is large. However you do have the opportunity to lower this increase. NSMH has been an unorganized organization. They meet the requirements however their programming is not where it should be. They have changed E-Board members 3-4 times and have had a lot of internal programs. They wanted to remove their transportation line; however their increase I believe was not necessary. AVP Jueckstock point of information isn’t it true that we are not allowed to pay for transportation. Treasurer Gabriel states that is true. Mary Kirkwood (Business Manager) states that they didn’t ask for that line. Senator Stone states that our problem with it is that it was not folded back into the group as opposed to being entirely taken away. Treasurer Gabriel states that the organization has not been very active. Senator Dobney asks are we no longer paying for transportation. Treasurer Gabriel states we do but it has to be in the state. Health and Wellness wanted to take away their copy line, and their awareness month. When we deliberated we thought that it was kind of odd to take away the money for their awareness month. We did adjust their conference line and banquet lines. VAB removed their camp weekend line, and as explained before we own Whispering Pines and we urge students to go and spend time there. What we did was go off of what they spent and last year’s budget. Senator Manz asks when you have a line in your budget classified as Special Events is there a break down in the organization on what a special event is. Treasurer Gabriel states technically it is usually on campus programming. Senator Hamilton asks why is it that some organizations get $500 and $2,000 for camp weekend. I feel there should be a set amount to force collaboration. Treasurer Gabriel states that is based on their membership, and what they do, how often they go, things like that. Senator Cawthon in regards to membership, we should also mention that the event is open to everyone, so shouldn’t they have a list or sign up so they can submit it to us? If I’m not a member of the organization but they are doing something I want to go to, how would they account for that? Treasurer Gabriel states in terms of camp weekend it is important, it’s as if we were to have camp weekend we couldn’t do it on $400 dollars, it’s not possible. If you are talking in terms of funding some organizations have a retreat, or have special programs, and some people do educational things or go on a retreat to experience the nature and wildlife. Anyone is invited to any event. Treasurer Gabriel states the College Democrats haven’t done anything this entire semester considering this is an election year. CRAGG did not get a budget because my first Treasurer’s meeting was March 5th, and the deadline was March 15th, this was announced at the first bi-semester meeting. They were given reminders and memos, and they did not attend the February 5th meeting nor did they come between the 5th and the 15th to explain themselves. However, I did extend the deadline to Friday because we're all students. After the budget process was sealed and under a review that was when they realized they did not request a budget, so they applied for a budget hearing. They came to the hearing and requested a budget; we asked a bunch of questions to figure out what happened. The Executive Board members did not have the longevity of the organization in mind. Senator Stone states that the problem is that PASO was given an exception on their budget, so if they got one everyone should have. Treasurer Gabriel states that PASO was not given an exception in their budget, PASO, turned in a budget. CRAGG did not turn in a budget and signed up for a hearing to submit a budget. Senator Stone states that PASO submitted wrong numbers and you gave them an exception to change it, if you give them a exception then everyone should get a exception. Treasurer Gabriel states that the hearings are to adjust the submitted budgets, if a budget was not submitted then there isn’t anything to change. Senator O'Grady states that he has the March 18th budget minutes and the PASO Treasurer did not put down the accurate information. This to me is the same as not submitting a budget. I looked into the culture of CRAGG and they have existed since the 70’s.  They were not asking for a lot of money. Treasurer Gabriel states $2800 they were asking for. Senator O’Grady states that this organization does great programming.  Rules Chair Greco states Senator O’Grady came to him and he went back to look into the archives and they were established in the 80’s. Treasurer Gabriel states they did not request a budget and if they’ve been around for that long they should know the importance of the budget. Senator Yazicilar states just repeating what Treasurer Gabriel said, the sheets were actually due and they didn’t elaborate on anything, therefore they didn’t have a budget.  As for PASO they submitted within the time limit, because of their programming and the great things they do. AVP Jueckstock states in my opinion there is a difference between an old organization and an active organization. EVP Perez states I don’t see why we will turn away one organization when we are extending a helping hand to an organization such as FSA. Treasurer Gabriel states that she feels that it would be unfair to the other organizations because there was a deadline.  Senator O’Grady asks did the other organizations appeal their budget or their proposed budget. Treasurer Gabriel states no they did not because as stated if they appealed it they would have gotten the same thing.  They understood why they didn’t get a budget. Senator Pro Tem Nunez asks did PASO submit their budget on time and does the constitution say anything about submitting budgets? Also, how will making an exception for CRAGG affect the future decisions? Treasurer Gabriel states yes PASO was on time, no there is no constitutional guideline for when budgets have to be submitted. AVP Jueckstock makes a motion to lay on the table. AVP Hassan 2nd.  President Brady states the motion is on the table because we only have the room until 11:00.  Vote is taken and passes 14 yeas, 5 nays and 1 abstention. Senator Manz motions to suspend the rules. Senator O’Grady 2nd. Vote is taken and passes 12 yeas, 9 nays and 0 abstentions. Senator Manz motions to begin next weeks meeting at 7 pm so we don’ have to rush through the meeting. President Brady states floor is open for discussion. President Brady states we will vote to start the Senate meeting at 7 pm and passes 12 yeas, 9 nays and 0 abstentions.  Senator O'Grady call to previous question. Senator Manz 2nd.  Vote is taken on the previous questions and passes 19 yeas, 0 nays and 3 abstentions. Senator Manz motions to adjourn.  AVP Hassan 2nd.   President Brady states we will vote to adjourn vote is taken and passes unanimously 21 yeas, 0 nays and 0 abstentions.

 

VIII.            2nd Roll Call

 

IX.            Meeting adjourned.