MINUTES
Graduate & Professional Student Assembly Council of Representatives
February 9th, 1998
Big Red Barn Graduate & Professional Student Center Greenhouse
5:00 P.M.

I. Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 5:09 by Vice President Cheryl Heinz.

II. Open Forum

Cris Gardner, Director of the Office of Assemblies, introduced Bonnie Bailey, who is the new special assistant to the GPSA.

Christopher Cole, Education, announced that the University Assembly recently passed a resolution concerning transportation. Since the three local public transportation providers have been combined, there is no formal communication between the Cornell constituents and TCAT. This resolution states that the University Assembly wants representation on the TCAT Board of Directors, of which Cornell has three seats. Preferably, a member of the Transportation Committee will get a seat. C.Cole notes that this representative will not necessarily be a student. This letter will be sent directly to the Board.

C.Heinz stated that the GPSAFC budget process will begin in March for the 1998–99 year. Therefore, she requests that COR members inform club officers of the start of this process so they can submit their budgets by the deadline. While it is possible to get money if a budget is submitted late, it is much easier if the budgets are submitted on time.

C.Gardner announced that there will be another Student-Elected Trustee Information Session on Wednesday, February 11 at 12:30. The location is TBA, but it will probably be held in Day Hall. She asked members to inform those who might be interested in the position of this session.

III. Business of the Day

A) Transportation Advisory Committee

Stacey Kenyon, Vet Medicine, stated that the results from two focus group surveys were recently compiled, and that she could get a copy of these results for anyone who would like to see them. The Transportation Office had stated that they would do a more general survey if there are enough issues. At a meeting a couple weeks ago, such a survey was offered to be done in the graduate community, so currently the committee is trying to gather the necessary demographic information for the survey. The committee will encourage the pursuit of a larger survey and will request input on any survey that is done.

Katrina Ellis, Management, stated that at the last meeting the committee discussed the possibilities of having schedules available at bus stops.

S.Kenyon noted that both she and K. Ellis will leave the committee in April and therefore, someone will need to take over for them. She requested that interested members inform her sooner as opposed to later, so they can start coming to meetings and learning how the committee functions.

B) Incinerator/Medical Waste Committee

Traci Battle and Ana Alcaraz were present at the meeting to provide information on the status of the Incinerator Project. The Vet School originally proposed to build an incinerator in order to dispose of wastes. However, there were protests against this idea, and so this committee was formed. This committee will make a recommendation to the Vet School after considering various technologies.

T. Battle stated that the committee is currently assessing technologies. An environmental engineer has been hired to help with these evaluations. Last week, incineration was removed from consideration and the focus was placed on the merits of non-incinerator technologies, such as enhanced auto-clave technology and chemical digestion. Some technologies have been eliminated, such as microwaving and irradiation. T. Battle stated that the committee hopes to have a closure in about six months.

In response to questions, T. Battle noted that the committee knows that some technologies get rid of a particular sort of waste better than others. Therefore, it is possible to divide the waste stream into two parts, one dealing with infectious carcasses and bedding and the other dealing with regulated medical wastes. However, the committee wants to find a single technology because that would be less complicated. She noted that it might be possible to dispose of the second type of waste off-campus. Also, the committee may suggest a more environmentally-friendly incinerator than either the current one or the planned one.

In response to members’ questions on any models used by the committee, T. Battle stated that most schools either use old incinerators or ship it elsewhere to be incinerated. However, the University of Virginia recently went through this process and they choose the dry-rendering technology. The committee is using their assessment on that particular technology.

A. Alcaraz noted that there are no real models for Cornell to follow due to the amount of waste produced. The Vet School produces approximately one million pounds of carcasses per year.

T. Battle stated that other wastes will be taken care of by Solid Waste Management. There is also the Waste Minimization and Prevention Committee, which will try to minimize the amount of waste produced campus-wide.

C) NAGPS Membership

John Schwarz, Government, announced that the GPSA voted at its last meeting to join the NAGPS for three years at the highest level, Sponsoring Membership. This group has been around for about the last ten years and deals with legislative issues that affect graduate and professional students. NAGPS also offers both a health and a dental plan. Because the GPSA will be members of this association, all graduate and professional students will have the option of signing up for these plans. NAGPS also has a Job Bank that students can now access.

J. Schwarz stated that it is important that students are given information related to NAGPS. This organization has a board and it will be possible to have people run to be on the board. There are also committees that the GPSA will be able to send a representative to. He informed those assembled that there is a northeastern branch of this organization that elects most of its leadership positions.

In response to members’ questions, J. Schwarz stated that there will be a conference on March 13–15 in Cambridge, MA for the regional organization. There are no other details known at this time. There will also be a meeting in May for all New York members and a national conference in the fall. J. Schwarz noted that the GPSA will not be official members until dues are paid. When this is done, the health and dental plans will be available. However, arrangements may have to be made with Gannett and other local health care providers before the health plan is fully operational. The money for the dues will come out of GPSA internal funds.

D) Leadership Meeting Report

R. Gary Hartz, President of GPSA, stated that the principle issue at the last leadership meeting was the high cost of international long distance calls. Such phone calls cost four to five times more at the University than the best deals offered to individuals.

G. Hartz stated that all calls on campus go through CIT before going out. CIT determines how the cost of phone calls will be split amongst the calls to different places. The burden of these costs has fallen disproportinately on international calls . It is hoped that this problem will be remedied next year and the new pricing for international callswill be reduced significantly.

G. Hartz stated that the administration said that the phone companies will not offer the same deals to corporations that they do to residential consumers. This issue will continue to be monitored.

In response to questions, G. Hartz stated that the reason why all calls go through a central system is because that is the way that the campus was wired. If this system is to be changed, than all the phone lines must be replaced. Also, there are some benefits to the current system. For example, Cornell’s 911 can pinpoint the location of the call because of this.

C.Gardner suggested that the COR invite Peter Siegel, Director of Information Technologies, CIT, to a meeting if they had any additional unanswered questions or needed more information. The current contract was made some time ago, when rates were very different from what they are now and therefore, a renegotiation might be in order.

Mark Parsons, Art, suggested that members look for less expensive options. He noted that he used to have a calling card from a company that gave him excellent rates. He stated that he will look for information on this.

G. Hartz requested members e-mail him or C.Heinz with any questions or topics that should be brought up at the next Leadership Meeting.

IV. New Business

A) Committee to Review Policies

G. Hartz stated that there is a new committee forming to review policies in regards to TA’s and RA’s. The GPSA has two representatives on this committee and these representatives are John Schwarz, Government, and Stefan Hames, Ecology. This committee will be small, with about eight to ten members, and will make policy recommendations. If there are any issues that should be addressed by this committee, G. Hartz requested that members e-mail them to J. Schwarz and S. Hames.

V. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 6:02 PM.

Respectfully submitted, Stephanie Tinsley Student Clerk, GPSA