Student Assembly

MINUTES
Cornell University Student Assembly
November 18, 2010
4:45pm — 6:30pm
Willard Straight Hall, Memorial Room

I. Call to Order

V. Andrews called the meeting to order at 4:45pm.

II. Roll Call

Voting members present: S. Agard, V. Andrews, A. Bajaj, G. Block, A. Brokman, M. Danzer, R. Desai, C. Feng, M. Finn, A. Gitlin, M. Gulrajani, C. Jenkins, J. Kay, D. Kuhr, T. Lenardo, R. Mensah, A. Nicoletti, S. Pendleton, A. Pruce, N. Raps, J. Rau, U. Smith, A. Yozwiak

III. Approval of Minutes

The minutes from the November 11th, 2010 meeting were approved with no dissent.

IV. Open Microphone — Ray Mensah

R. Mensah invited audience members to come forward and speak.

Eva Drago ‘11 spoke about the Women’s Resource Center and hoped that the SA would reappoint a liaison to this group. The time is right for the SA to do this because of recent violent acts against women on campus. True progress can be made if strong conversations can take place. For many victims, this center is often the only place where crimes against women are reported, as victims prefer to seek counseling here, rather than to seek action from higher authorities.

A. Gitlin said that the SA would make an effort to strengthen the relationship between itself and the Women’s Resource Center in the near future.

V. Announcements/Reports

1. Cornell Cinema — Adam Nicoletti

A. Nicoletti said that the Appropriations Committee met with Cornell Cinema on Monday and they discussed the changes in byline funding that occurred last year. They also discussed how students need to play a more direct role in the cinema through the film selections process, among other things. They talked about the issue of the Cinema’s budget fluctuations and the committee suggested they build up their reserve over time so that they could buy a new projector, for instance. On nights where attendance is low, they also suggested that the Cinema consider decreasing their programming to save money.

2. Ivy Council Conference Report — Chauncey Jenkins

C. Jenkins said that about 15 people came to the Ivy Council event over the weekend and the delegates had a good time there. They have begun to focus on education initiatives.

3. AAP Update — Ulysses Smith

U. Smith said that the College of Art, Architecture, and Planning has hired a new student advisor.

4. Late Night Programming Report — Vincent Andrews

V. Andrews said the ad-hoc Late Night Programming Committee found that to address the lack of late-night programming on campus between 10 pm and 3 am on weeknights could be remedied by a venue for students open during these hours.

A. Nicoletti said that the committee must work with its by-line funded partners to provide entertainment and programming. Also, Cornell dining will be an important connection to have in this planning process.

V. Andrews said that Cornell dining supports this resolution and wants to work with the committee to see this happen.

5. Middle States Accreditation Self-Study Steering Committee Report (4:55pm — 5:15pm)

Dean Hubble said that the school completed a draft of the Middle States Self-Study Report after working on it for the past two years. The accreditation process occurs every 10 years and will conclude with a visit from a review team on March 27–30, which will judge the University’s ability on 14 criteria. Institutional stewardship, student admissions and supports, the faculty, integrity governance and administration, educational offerings, and assessment are among the criteria for judgment. The whole process is technically voluntarily, but accreditation is necessary to receive federal funding. The final self-study will be submitted to the Middle States in February. This document is intended to benefit Cornell and reflect on its strengths and initiatives. As it went through the recession, the University decided to enact a Strategic Plan. The contents of this plan have been incorporated into the self-study. There is a focus on the assessment of learning outcomes, so each college has put together a documented, organized, and sustained assessment process to evaluate and improve student learning. Therefore, 10–15 years from now, teaching will be at a higher level than it is today. The final report made by the review team will contain suggestions, recommendations that require action, and requirements if accreditation is in jeopardy. Comments and questions should be sent to middlestates@cornell.edu and a draft of Cornell’s Self Study Design Plan is online at www. Cornell.edu/MiddleStates.

V. Andrews requested a printout of the report for the Assemblies Office.

VI. Business of the Day

1. Resolution 34 — Charter Revisions II

M. Gould said changes to charter and bylaws were enacted in order to make them more intelligible to SA members and the student body.

A. Pruce thanked them for improving this system.

M. Gould thanked Ari Epstein for his help.

A. Nicoletti asked about transfer representatives and whether someone who transfers in the spring would be able to run for the transfer seat in the fall.

M. Gould said they would be able to.

There was a call to question on an amendment proposed by R. Desai. Seconded, with no dissent. The amendment failed.

There was a call to question on the resolution. By a vote of 22–0−0, the resolution passes.

2. Resolution 42 — Creation of a New Service Learning Cooperative

Motion to move this resolution to business of the day. Motion approved. Motion to extend meeting to 6:45. Motion approved.

A. Baratz ‘11 said that cooperative housing programs reject far more people than they accept. Cornell also needs to provide more service learning opportunities. This resolution provides a combination of these two ideas. Once this resolution is passed, there is a two-fold process for enacting this cooperative program.

A. Nicoletti motioned to table this resolution to next week.

U. Smith said that this resolution was sent out a week and a half ago, so there was ample time to read over it.

There was a call to question on the amendment. Seconded. By a hand vote, the motioned failed.

D. Kuhr asked when people would begin living in this house?

A. Baratz said that it all depends upon when a house is provided. The hope is that it will be open by next fall.

There was a call to question. Seconded, with no dissent. By a vote of 14–0−6, the resolution passed.

VII. New Business

1. Resolution 41 — Approval of the Spring 2010 Election Rules (5:35pm — 6:05pm)

V. Andrews said that the Elections Committee has not yet voted on these rules.

C. Feng said that one of the main issues being discussed by the Elections Committee is electronic communication and problems with candidates spamming listservs. Another issue regards the Committee’s ability to challenge candidates. Finally, the Elections Committee has opted for a new system of presidential tickets where those running on a presidential ticket may or may not select a vice president to run with. Voters could also break up tickets and vote for a president on one ticket and a vice president on another.

M. Danzer asked for an explanation for why the slate system is back. Also, is there a way of tiering required signatures based on the size of the candidate’s college? Is there a way of getting ID pictures for candidates rather than going to Day Hall for each election?

C. Feng said that they didn’t consider the pictures a big issue. They also thought that 50 signatures was a valid requirement to maintain for future candidates. As for the slate system, the new solution is that voters may break up slates. This makes for a better system altogether.

A. Epstein said that they couldn’t use the student ID photos for technical reasons. Photos will be taken in the Office of the Assemblies from now on. Many students prefer to not use their ID photos anyway.

D. Kuhr said it is a huge burden for people running from smaller colleges to find 50 signatures. Isn’t the entire purpose of the slate ticket system pointless if they can be broken up?

C. Feng said people ran because it was more fun to run with someone else. This gives people more opportunities to run and makes it more enjoyable to run. The point of breaking up a ticket is that it allows voters to choose who they actually want to elect.

V. Andrews said that he is pushing back on the use of slates in the Elections Committee’s discussions of this issue.

J. Kay said there is a lack of strength behind the current elections rules, regarding postering and other issues.

C. Feng said that the ultimate determination of disqualifying a candidate is whether or not they broke any rules that qualified as them receiving an unfair advantage.

2. Resolution 45 — Spending Student Money Sustainably

A. Brokman said that this resolution would require organizations to fill out an environmental impact form when they register. This will ensure that money given to these groups is spent sustainably.

G. Block said Cornell agreed to an aggressive policy to reduce its environmental impact, yet they do not have any oversight in club activities. His committee hopes to be able to provide oversight for clubs to make sure that they act sustainably.

U. Smith wondered what constitutes non-compliance with sustainable policies. Also, does this resolution apply to clubs’ activities off campus, such as on trips?

G. Block said that clubs would list trips in their environmental plans, when they register.

M. Danzer said that many clubs have enough problems in obtaining SAO recognition. Won’t this resolution just add more red tape? Was there no better way of raising environmental awareness?

R. Desai said he had looked into this and thought that this was the best way to raise awareness.

A. Craig asked what the timeline would be for a club declaring its environmental goals, because many groups at the beginning of the school year are under pressing time constraints.

A. Brokman said Cornell is dishing out millions of dollars, so it is necessary to make sure that this money is being spent sustainably. It won’t take much time for students to fill out this form.

G. Block said that this wouldn’t take more than a page for students to list their plans.

A. Brokman said that the idea of the resolution is not to punish any group. But they want to make sure that groups are working toward sustainability.

A. Bajaj asked what they are looking for clubs to say.

G. Block said that they are creating an example for the Concert Commission, which will be posted online for other groups to get ideas on what types of policies they can enact to make their groups more environmentally friendly.

D. Kuhr asked how they would view musical ensembles, which don’t necessarily fit into the same group as other SAO-funded organizations.

A. Brokman said these groups still have to register with the school, so the same plans would apply.

3. Resolution 47 — A Response to Recent Instances of Violence Against Women

M. Danzer said that this resolution follows the escalation in violence against women on campus in recent weeks. There was a rally this past week to protest this violence. This resolution calls for the administration to put a series of changes in place. The current policies in place dealing with violence against women are out of date and dangerous. Drastic changes to the system are needed to ensure that victims’ rights are protected, as well as the rights of the accused.

R. Desai said that JAMIC supported this resolution at its last meeting. They encourage Danzer to stay transparent with this issue and let everyone know what is going on in order to move forward and actively help women on campus. He asked how the resolution plans to use the JA’s office to change current policies.

M. Danzer motioned to amend a portion of his resolution. Amendment passed.

M. Danzer said he would bring together students, faculty, and administrators to discuss these changes.

N. Raps said she thought that sense of body resolutions like this are a great way for the SA to discuss these important issues.

U. Smith said it’s interesting that so many people think that women should be treated as second-class citizens and he condones this practice and condones violence against women. Both the University and the SA need to work to ensure the safety of women. He is very disappointed with the way the community has handled these issues. He encourages everyone interested to get involved in accomplishing these goals.

E. Drago said that violence between men is commonly seen in public, yet violence by men toward women is something that people hardly ever see. The blue light system does a good job of stopping crimes in public, but steps need to be taken to stop these crimes in private.

There was a call to question. Seconded, with no dissent. There was a call for acclamation, without dissent. The resolution was passed by acclamation.

VIII. Unfinished Business

1. Resolution 39 — Call For All Students to Boycott CollegeACB.com and Similar Gossip Websites

A. Brokman said they aren’t calling for a ban to these websites, but he feels as if these websites are contrary to values of the student body.

The President of the Women’s Health Advisory Team said that this resolution would go along with recent actions taken by the Greek Community to make the campus more embracing of all students. There will be a petition put on Facebook to publicize this sentiment more. Her group also spoke with a law professor who works with slander, defamation, and libel law to ask about the legalities of writing on this website. They also want to talk to the websites’ advertisers to see if they can advertise elsewhere

E. Cusick said this website doesn’t uphold the values of Cornell or the Greek community.

Rachel Bukberg, the previous president of the Women’s Health Advisory Team, said that this site isn’t specific to those in the Greek community, because there are other abhorrent comments on it.

G. Block said that he has a problem with this resolution because it won’t actually stop people from posting or visiting this website. The Assembly’s purpose isn’t necessarily to tell people what they should do in their free time.

A. Pruce said he did think that this is within the SA’s responsibility. Some official body with official recognition must be able to address these issues.

A. Nicoletti said he agreed with Pruce’s sentiment. At the end of the day, this site is cyber-bullying and this resolution goes along with a resolution passed earlier this semester condemning this practice.

J. Rau said this site is disgusting and steps need to be taken to stop it. However, how is a student assembly resolution going to stop anyone from posting or visiting this site?

A. Brokman said this depends on what you think the capabilities of the SA are. This is exactly what sense of body resolutions are for, to address issues like this and represent the sentiments of the student body.

Rachel Bukberg said that there is something very symbolic about putting your name on a petition. Making this type of statement can make a difference.

M. Danzer said this resolution is important to pass because Cornellians have all discussed how disgusting such websites are. If students are having these conversations in private, why not shine a light on it as the SA? This is cyber-bullying and not speaking out wouldn’t represent the voices of the students.

There was a call to question. Seconded. With dissent. There was a vote to vote on the resolution. The SA decided to vote. By a hand vote of 20–0−3, resolution passed.

IX. Adjournment

V. Andrews adjourned the meeting at 6:41pm.

Respectfully submitted, Allison Bazinet