Student Assembly

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Student Assembly Meeting Minutes
December 1, 2005
4:45 � 6:30 p.m.
Music Room, WSH

I. Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 4:52 p.m.

II. Roll Call

For roll call see Attach: 20051201minutes.pdf

III. Open Microphone

Alan Bova of Club Insurance said that, as the assembly knows, Club Insurance is vital to students at Cornell. He urged them to fund the full requested amount for the benefit of all students at Cornell.

IV. Announcements/Reports

Provost Update � C. Selth said that he has the books for everyone who is participating. They should read the book that they receive today over winter break and write a one-page summary. They should evaluate how it might fit for the program and give their opinions on it. After the break, everyone will read two more. Everyone should remember to bring back their books so that they can swap with everyone else in the program. Once they are finished, everyone will get to keep their favorite book. He said he has a couple copies still so if there are one or two more people interested, they should talk to him.

GPSA Funding Update � M. Fernandes said that the graduate students have decided not to fund Slope Day for the next two years. They will be looking into changing Appendix B to require graduates who attend the event to pay before entering.

Surveillance Forum � R. Lavin said they would be holding a surveillance forum and hope to have a combination of students and representatives from the RHA, Cornell Police, and Student Assembly. This will be a meeting to decide how they should proceed on this issue and brainstorm ideas.

A. Merali asked why he sees the student that was involved in the taping incident earlier this year on campus still. Why is he still at Cornell?

R. Lavin said that they aren�t really talking about him specifically. The Cornell Police don�t really want them to do that. Also, he said he is not sure of the specific details of that case.

T. Lim said that Cornell did make a statement. They have disclosed what they legally can. He encouraged everyone to go to the meeting. He said he has talked to Susan Murphy and Tommy Bruce and they are very excited.

L. Gilbertson announced that she would be going to D.C. next semester and thanked the assembly. She really enjoyed working with all of them. Dahlia Raymond will be taking her place as the SA Clerk next semester. She wished them all a good semester.

V. Business of the Day SAFC - Liz Falcone �06 said that this would be her and Dave�s last meeting in front of the SA. Their terms as co-chairs will be done at the end of this semester.

David Lederman �06 said that they have some membership additions and the new e-board to present to the SA today. The new co-chairs will be Joey Zielinski and Scottie McQuilkin. The Vice Chair of Public Relations will be Erica Fischer. The Vice Chair of Internal Relations will be Spencer Pepper. The Vice Chair of External Relations will be Eric Shulman.

There was a motion to approve the new SAFC e-board. It was seconded. There was no dissent. A vote was taken via voice. The new e-board was unanimously approved.

D. Lederman said that they also recently held interviews and chose new commissioners. They chose seven new commissioners and three alternates. Their names are Samuel Bendix, Adam Castle, Colin Heath, Jennifer Hsu, Brittni Levinson, Kim Lewis, Samuel Miller � Little. The alternates are Luke Chernosky, Mary DePalma, and Alex Saltman.

T. Lim said that he had made an observation at their last meeting about the lack of diversity of their new membership. Do they have any plans to change that or create a more diverse commission?

L. Falcone said that the way the choose new members is that they advertise that they are accepting applications for new commissioners. There were quartercards place in freshmen mailboxes and there were posters around campus and in the dorms. They also rely on word of mouth for recruiting. Once the applications are turned in, they choose the applicants they want to interview. They in no way look at anything by qualifications. In that sense, the process is color or race blind. They choose based on the quality of the applications they receive, and so it is not skewed one way or the other.

D. Lederman said that they really do just base their decisions on qualifications. As it stands, the commission is quite diverse. It is half male and half female and they have several races represented.

A. Merali asked how they were defining diverse. For instance, he noticed that there are no hotelies on the list.

D. Lederman said they actually just picked a new commissioner, Sam Bendix, who is a hotelie.

There was a motion to approve the new membership of the SAFC. It was seconded. There was no dissent. A vote was taken via voice. The membership was unanimously approved.

L. Falcone said they should all have a new copy of the President and Treasurer�s Handbook. They have spent a lot of time in the past few weeks refining their policies and making the handbook more user-friendly and clearer. They haven�t really made any policy changes; they have really just made clarifications. At the top of the handbook in the notes, there is a new club sport definition. This was not a definition that the SAFC created. It was developed by the Club Sports Commission and voted on by the SAFC to include in our guidelines. The reason for this is that club sports right now are at a disadvantage because they are limited to 20% of the total SAFC budget. As a result, they have received much larger cuts than regular groups. This definition will change how many groups are eligible for that 20% and hopefully make it fairer. The other clarifications are pretty self-explanatory. They have tried to clarify in a number of places what constitutes proof, including that Mapquest mileage is required as documentation even if a group plans on buying an airplane ticket and includes the price quote for the ticket. One other clarification worth mentioning is that the SAFC doesn�t fund for supplies to create publicity, just for renting the space over the Cornell Store.

D. Lederman said they just tried to clarify a lot of things people haven�t understood in the past. Their goal was to make things more explicit, obvious, and clear.

L. Falcone said that they also have now written in the handbook that the SAFC is not held to past decisions and each case will be evaluated for each year separately.

A. Merali said they had mentioned that club sports are at a disadvantage. How much funding to club sports really need?

D. Lederman said that if they go by their new definition, they will have 24 groups and 20% seems to be closer in line with what they might need. Currently, they have 60 groups under club sports and, as a result, they had to cut all sports budgets by 43% this semester. This new definition should make the cuts much more equitable.

L. Falcone said she didn�t think they could really judge how much sports groups really need. They really are just trying to help support the groups and make the best club sports they can. This should help create a situation where club sports can function on campus and get done what they need to.

A. Merali asked, since club sports want to be on their own, will the SAFC ease them into it.

L. Falcone said that is the plan. She and Dave will serve as advisors to them. They are still a couple years away from being independent, but next semester they plan to write the bylaws.

D. Bean said that during the taskforce meeting on student publications they discussed the idea of putting the advisor�s name on the masthead of newspapers. He said he would like to see that be required by the SAFC starting next semester and then continuing for the future. The idea is that this will increase the responsibility for who oversees the content.

T. Lim said there could be a motion to include that in the SAFC guidelines.

L. Falcone said they spoke about this at their meeting on Monday, and it was met with some concern from the commission. They haven�t really had the chance to fully discuss it, though. She would propose that the SA let the SAFC continue to discuss it and make a recommendation once they have come to a consensus. Though the SA, as the parent body, could vote to include it, it would be better to let the SAFC handle the matter internally first. They do plan to look toward doing future policy changes to increase the accountability for student publications. The commission had some hesitations because they felt that perhaps the means were not appropriate for the ends.

D. Bean asked what kind of particular issues they had.

D. Lederman said there was concern about hurting freedom of speech. For instance, an advisor might not want to look over the entire publication and ok it before their name was printed on the masthead, which might pose a difficulty for groups.

L. Falcone said the idea in academia is that putting your name on something is somewhat sacred, and to some extent, it means you endorse it. Since the advisor may not have the time to go through the publication, they may be hesitant to take on that role.

R. Lariar asked don�t most of them list all of that type of information on the inside of the publication already, so they advisor already has their name there.

D. Lederman said yes, some do it, but they are not required.

R. Lariar asked if they had discussed this issue with the administration.

D. Bean said that Dean Hubbell was at the meeting where they discussed it.

L. Falcone said the commission just really hasn�t had enough time to fully discuss it.

D. Bean said that this idea is not original to our taskforce. It has come up before, but was never enforced. The reason that this was proposed was because then it isn�t really the students� decision of what should get published or censored; it would just increase the amount or responsibility.

T. Lim said that this was the official recommendation from Hubbell�s office.

L. Falcone said that the Dean of Students may have contacted the SA, but they never recommended it to the SAFC. On the commission, before they make policy changes they have extensive discussions to make sure everyone is heard, which they haven�t had time to do yet.

K. Thomison asked if they don�t think the advisor would want to review the entire publication, then what is the point of having an advisor.

L. Falcone said she didn�t think they�re necessarily endorsing that opinion; it was just an example of a hesitation voiced by the commission. As far as the SAFC has been concerned, advisors provide support and answer questions, not to look over the entire content of publications. The purpose of clubs on campus is for students to have the opportunity to do what they want under their own initiative, with advisor�s help if needed. However, if the Dean of Students office thinks the advisor should be more of a parent, then that is something to look at. In the past advisors have been an aid rather than an overseer.

A. Merali said he agrees that they shouldn�t hinder what students want to do, but someone needs to take responsibility for what is done and written. If it hurts or offends one person on campus, that is no ok. If they can�t find someone to take responsibility for what they say, they shouldn�t be saying it. They need to be held accountable, and if the only way to do that is through the advisor then that is how they should do it.

M. Fernandes motioned to include David Bean�s proposal in the guidelines. If they find a problem with it, they can revisit the rule later. It was seconded. There was dissent.

C. Selth said he supports this motion. Before they do it, they should clarify the wording. Perhaps they should use the word cover instead of masthead. He asked if this rule was not included now and they waited until next semester, would it take effect for next semester?

D. Lederman said it could take effect from the point when it was passed on. They would need some leeway, however.

L. Falcone disagreed and said that it would take a full semester. In order for it to go into effect for next semester, it would need to be approved before budgets are due. It is her understanding also that, with the exception of one or two groups, most publications are annual budgets so this wouldn�t really affect them anyway. Policies can�t be applied retroactively. They would have to wait until fall 2006 for it to take effect if it was passed next semester.

D. Bean said that from what he remembers of the SAFC, sometimes campaigns � such as those to remind people about bringing in receipts- are not necessarily enforced the first semester, but then they are for the next semester. If this were to pass, they could use the next semester to inform people and then start enforcing it. As far as the terms, it should just be clear that it needs to be very visible on the front of the publication. The advisor and contact information should be listed along with anyone else responsible for the content.

D. Lederman said his point was that they needed a leeway period for this to take effect.

D. Bean asked if using next semester to inform people would be enough leeway.

L. Falcone said she thinks they need to develop more specific guidelines about where it is located. You can�t just say masthead because not every publication is a newspaper. Or in the case of Awkward Magazine, they sometimes have fur on the front of their magazine so they couldn�t print anything on it. Also, they would need to decide what would happen if groups failed to do this.

D. Bean said he would change his recommendation then. The advisor�s name and contact into must be included in the same place as the editor and staff information.

O. Gonzalez-Pagan asked what they are trying to achieve. In his understanding, and he agrees with the SAFC, an advisor is to facilitate, not to edit what the content of something is. When you limit what a group can say through censorship or editing, it is a little shady. Maybe advisors can facilitate, but they shouldn�t be the editor of the entire content. There�s a very big difference between taking full responsibility and facilitating.

K. Thomison said he likes the amendment, but Omar has a good point that the advisor is an aid, not necessarily a parent. They need to establish the role of an advisor before they make any rules like this.

T. Lim said that an advisor is defined by the Dean of Students office as a mentor/guide from what he can remember.

A. Merali said they are not trying to say that advisors should act as a parent and edit everything. It�s more to have an advisor who trusts the editor of the paper enough to judge the quality and appropriateness of the articles printed.

D. Lederman said that even if that�s the case, some advisors might still want to look through it.

A. Merali said that is their choice,; it doesn�t mean we are changing their role.

Scottie McQuilkin �08 said she doesn�t want to see this rule get passed before her commission has a chance to talk about it. The SAFC is responsible for implementing it, so they need more time to discuss it internally before they approve it.

T. Lim said he had heard a remark at the SAFC meeting that this decision isn�t one that the SAFC does not see as appropriate for them to implement because it could be viewed as a political move, and that it might be better if it came from the SA.

L. Falcone said that is not an official comment of the SA. Certainly, as the parent body, the SA is welcome, or rather allowed, to do whatever they please with the SAFC regulations. However, there are bureaucratic and other technicalities that would result from such a rule and they would feel better about making decisions such as that internally. After they discuss it, they would gladly make recommendations to the SA about implementing it.

D. Lederman said that if this is passed tonight, it probably isn�t going to help them get off to a great start with the commission when they have to bring it to them and say, �by the way, this rule we talked about last semester, it was passed.�

M. Kiedrowicz said she is in favor of passing it right now. If they waited until next semester, what is the timeline? How long would it take to get passed.

S. McQuilkin said it is something they could bring up immediately, but it would take at lease a whole meeting to discuss it. Then they would work out the logistics and bureaucratics, so it might take a little while. She admitted that it would take a little of the heat off of them if the SA passed it, but they still would prefer to deal with it themselves.

L. Falcone said that the new e-board could possibly bring this back to the SA mid-February, about a month after the semester began. However, it couldn�t take effect until fall 2006.

There was a call to question. It was seconded. There was no dissent.

D. Bean restated the motion as: wherever any SAFC-funded publication lists their editors and staff, the advisor�s information must be included as well.

A vote was taken via hands. By a vote of 11–7−1, the motion passed.

With that amendment passed, there was a call to question to approve the SAFC changes. It was seconded. There was no dissent. A vote was taken via voice and the changes were unanimously approved.

Appendix B � M. Fernandes read her resolution and the proposed changes to Appendix B.

A. Merali made a motion to table this discussion except the fee portion until next semester so they have a chance to review the changes Vice President Fernandes just read. It was seconded.

R. Lariar asked if that would interfere with the process for setting the SAF.

T. Lim said the only deadline they have is to set the fee. They can change Appendix B at any time.

There was no dissent to the motion. A vote was taken via voice and passed unanimously.

M. Fernandes said she would send out a copy of the changes.

Student Activity Fee Club Insurance � The representative from Club Insurance had left. M. Fernandes spoke in his absence. She explained that all of the money given to club insurance goes directly to fund insurance for clubs. The Appropriations Committee had voted unanimously to fund them at $4.75.

There was a call to question. It was seconded. There was no dissent. A vote was taken via roll call. With a unanimous vote, the appropriations committee�s recommendation was approved.

Ins: David Bean Y Sarah Boxer Y Daniel Budish Y Maddie Ehrlich - Jonathan Feldman Y Michelle Fernandes Y Neala Gollomp Y Jessica Ince Y Melissa Kiedrowicz Y Randy Lariar Y Ryan Lavin Y Tim Lim - Guy Mazza Y Jim McCrindle Y Ali Merali Y Courtney Mitchell - Kate Nadolny Y Omar Nolan - Kristen Rich Y Ahmed Salem - Calvin Selth Y Nina Terrero Y Kwame Thomison Y

Student Assembly � M. Fernandes said the appropriations committee voted unanimously to fund the SA at a $0.22 increase for a total of $2.95. This number will make the fee even. The reason a budget is not included is that this money is in a discretionary fund. They pay for things like elections, initiatives, and the SAFC administrative budget (which her proposed changes to Appendix B eliminate as their responsibility out of this fund). They have about a $31,000 budget. They started this year off with a $1500 deficit, so the increase will be useful.

K. Nadolny asked what is the dollar amount of what the SAFC uses.

M. Fernandes said the office wasn�t sure how much the SAFC uses each semester. A ballpark figure after talking to Liz was around $10,00 including food, copies, and t-shirts. Her changes to Appendix B would set aside $0.75 for their administrative expenses, which would be about equal to that number.

A. Merali asked if they took into account that these meetings would be more effective if they provided food. Sometimes they stay very late, past dinnertime.

M. Fernandes said that is something they could look at for the future.

There was a call to question. It was seconded. There was no dissent. A vote was taken via roll call. With a vote of 16–0−3

SA: David Bean Y Sarah Boxer Y Daniel Budish Y Maddie Ehrlich Y Jonathan Feldman Y Michelle Fernandes A Neala Gollomp Y Jessica Ince Y Melissa Kiedrowicz Y Randy Lariar Y Ryan Lavin Y Tim Lim - Guy Mazza Y Jim McCrindle Y Ali Merali A Courtney Mitchell - Kate Nadolny Y Omar Nolan - Kristen Rich Y Ahmed Salem - Calvin Selth A Nina Terrero Y Kwame Thomison Y

M. Fernandes said that the SHS representative was not present, but the appropriations committee voted unanimously to fund them at $1.

R. Lariar said he wanted to speech on behalf of SHS. SHS is an extra dollar that goes directly to financial aid and invested in an endowment that they hope will eventually pay for SHS. SHS draws holistically from the community to allow students to have insurance for unforeseen circumstances such as a fire. It is an emergency safety net for everyone. He has spoken with financial aid and they report that the endowment is doing well. The goal is to eventually close off the SAF funding. Essentially every semester at $1 adds $600 to the interest amount they get back.

SHS:

David Bean Y Sarah Boxer Y Daniel Budish Y Maddie Ehrlich Y Jonathan Feldman Y Michelle Fernandes Y Neala Gollomp Y Jessica Ince Y Melissa Kiedrowicz Y Randy Lariar A Ryan Lavin Y Tim Lim - Guy Mazza Y Jim McCrindle Y Ali Merali Y Courtney Mitchell - Kate Nadolny Y Omar Nolan - Kristen Rich Y Ahmed Salem - Calvin Selth Y Nina Terrero Y Kwame Thomison Y There was a call to question. It was seconded. There was no dissent. A vote was taken via roll call. With a vote of 18–0−1, SHS was funded at $1.

R.10 Resolution Regarding the Acceptance of the 2006–2008 Student Activity Fee � M. Fernandes read the resolution, which states that the SAF for 2006–2008 will be $181. She said she would send out all the information later. This was a 9% increase from the last byline cycle.

There was a call to question. It was seconded. There was no dissent. A vote was taken via roll call. With a unanimous vote, the 2006–2008 SAF was set at $181. The announcement was met with a round of applause.

SAF: David Bean Y Sarah Boxer Y Daniel Budish Y Maddie Ehrlich Y Jonathan Feldman Y Michelle Fernandes Y Neala Gollomp Y Jessica Ince Y Melissa Kiedrowicz Y Randy Lariar Y Ryan Lavin Y Tim Lim - Guy Mazza Y Jim McCrindle Y Ali Merali Y Courtney Mitchell - Kate Nadolny Y Omar Nolan - Kristen Rich Y Ahmed Salem - Calvin Selth Y Nina Terrero Y Kwame Thomison Y

Executive Session � The meeting moved into executive session. Once they had taken care of their internal business, they would discuss R.9.

R.9 � Resolution Regarding Exploration of Alternative Means of Voting � There was a motion to extend the meeting time by 10 minutes. It was seconded. There was no dissent. The meeting was extended.

C. Selth made a motion to change the resolution to strike Mazdak Asgary from the resolution and stipulate that whoever serves as the student community member at-large will be ineligible to run for the elections the next semester (this spring). For the final version of R.9: see rules and actions.

The authors found the motion friendly.

There was a call to question. It was seconded. There was dissent. They voted via hands to call to question. With a vote of 9–4, the resolution was called to question.

There was a motion to vote by unanimous consent. It was seconded. There was no dissent. With unanimous consent, resolution 9 passed.

VI. Old Business

There was no old business.

VII. New Business

There was no new business.

VIII. Executive Session

Was moved to between SAF discussion and R.9

IX. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 6:40 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,
Lisa Gilbertson
SA Clerk