Student Assembly

MINUTES
Cornell University Student Assembly
March 17, 2011
4:45pm — 6:30pm
Willard Straight Hall, Memorial Room

I. Call to Order

V. Andrews called the meeting to order at 4:49 pm.

II. Roll Call

Representatives present: S. Agard, V. Andrews, A. Bajaj, M. Danzer, R. Desai, C. Feng, M. Gulrajani, C. Jenkins, J. Kay, R. Mensah, G. Moon, A. Nicoletti, J. Rau, U. Smith, A. Yozwiak

Representatives absent, unexcused: G. Block, A. Brokman, M. Finn, D. Kuhr, A. Pruce, M. Scheff

Representative 1/2 absent, unexcused: N. Raps

Representative 1/2 absent, excused: A. Gitlin

III. Approval of Minutes

March 3rd, 2011

There were no objections. The minutes were approved.

March 10th, 2011

There were no objections. The minutes were approved.

IV. Open Microphone — Ray Mensah

No one came forth.

V. Announcements/Reports

1. Community Center Councils Report

A. Nicoletti said the student council and the community centers get $3 from the student activity fee. The centers can be improved by more active advertising and moving toward more late night programming.

VI. Business of the Day

1. MOAAP Special Project Request

A. Nicoletti said this is an AAP event, funded through special project and it is supposed to engage more of the student community. U. Smith asked if the event was fully funded. A. Nicoletti said no. U. Smith made an amendment to increase the funding to this group. The group has been struggling to get itself back together and this is a very meaningful event. A. Nicoletti said the SA is also getting engagement out of this event. It is, however, a very large special project and will use up a great portion of the SA’s funds.

R. Desai asked about the rest of the special projects applying for funding. A. Nicoletti named some of the special projects.

R. Mensah said this is a great event, but he doesn’t know how much of the wider community this event will appeal to.

A. Bajaj said we don’t have lots of additional special project requests to fund, and this group is in dire strait. So we should fund them.

R. Desai said we shouldn’t hand out money for the sake of handing out money. The SA already doubled the max of any other funding boards on campus. We shouldn’t set precedents for 30 groups to apply to special project next year. He proposed an amendment to reduce funding to 500.

There was a motion to vote on this amendment on the amendment to reduce funding. There was dissent. There was a vote to vote, which passed by 12–3. The SA moved into moving procedure.

By a hand vote of 2–13, the amendment failed.

There was a motion to vote on amendment to increase funding. There was dissent. There was more debate.

J. Rau said the group shouldn’t get special treatment and we should follow procedure.

J. Kay agreed with that but thought we shouldn’t decrease funding.

The SA then moved on to the appeals.

2. Resolution 68 — Spring 2011 SAFC Appeals — Part II

Sitara

A. Nicoletti said the SAFC said the group did not follow guidelines and should not get funded. The appropriations committee overturned the decision. The SA can either support the appropriations committee’s decision or overturn it.

M. Danzer said the guidelines were poorly worded regarding storage. The group should not be penalized.

C. Feng asked what item is in question. A. Nicoletti said it’s a Sony boombox and some costumes.

A, Yozwiak said he heard no argument against funding them. He moved to vote on the decision. It was seconded.

By a hand vote of 13–0−0, the appropriations committee’s decision was approved and the group will be funded.

Duff Ball

A. Nicoletti explained the event happens after last day of classes and should not be funded, but the SAFC has funded it in the past and led them on. It was made known to the group that the event will not be funded in the future. The Duff Ball representative said that no problem was raised when talking with SAFC commissioners during the help session, so we proceeded to apply for funding.

M. Danzer said lots of groups had their appeals turned down by the appropriations committee even though they followed recommendations from commissioners that turned out to be wrong. We cannot make one exception for this event. Also, at the hearing, the Duff Ball people said they were aware that their event happens after the last day of classes and the SAFC doesn’t fund for those events. Therefore we cannot say the SAFC has erred. He amended to not fund the group.

R. Mensah said the SAFC needs to have better communication with the group. We should fund this group.

The Duff Ball representative said lots of events get funded even though they happen after the last day of classes. Therefore you can’t say you can’t fund us because lots of event didn’t get funded because they happen after the last day of classes. We know for next year to look for alternative funding.

A. Bajaj said the group went to SAFC commissioner at the budget hearing and was told they were all set for their funding. They should get their funding.

C. Jenkins said the SAFC ruled no, the appropriations committee ruled yes, and if SA rules no, it looks like we can’t make up our minds. Is there any way we can say the SAFC did not err, but the group gets their funding anyway?

M. Danzer agreed to change his amendment to fund the group, but the SAFC still did not err. The event will be funded out of the SA reserve.

A. Nicoletti said that would severely reduce the SA’s ability to fund for other projects. R. Desai agreed and said this would set a poor precedent. He moved to end debate and vote on the amendment. It was seconded, but there was dissent.

There was a vote to vote, which passed by a vote of 9–1.

The amendment failed by a hand vote of 3–9.

There was a call to question. It was seconded.

By a hand vote of 7–1−6, the appropriations committee’s decision was approved and Duff Ball will receive SAFC funding.

Slope Radio

A. Nicoletti said the group was denied funding because the SAFC guidelines say we don’t fund for hardware, software, etc. The appropriations committee supported that decision.

S. Agard asked what items are we talking about. The Slope Radio representatives said we are asking for a mini mac, LCD monitor, etc.

M. Danzer asked if they went to a help session? They said no.

A. Bajaj said the guideline states the SAFC doesn’t fund for “videogame hardware, software, and games.” How does this prohibit any regular hardware software not used for games? He made an amendment that grants the appeal to Slope Radio and says the SAFC erred.

A. Nicoletti said there are 22 groups applying for special project. By funding this group, we will be directly taking away money from other groups.

C. Feng said there are computers around campus with the appropriate software. The Slope Radio representatives said they need their own equipment to broadcast.

A. Bajaj called the amendment to question. It was seconded. No dissent.

By a hand vote of 10–6−0, the amendment fails because it needs a 2/3 majority to overturn the appropriations committee’s decision.

R. Desai called to question on the original decision. It was seconded.

By a hand vote of 6–3, the appropriation committee’s decision stands and the group will not be funded.

Let’s Get Ready

A. Nicoletti said that the SAT prep books the group requested are not durable goods because the students write in them and take them home and are not reclaimed.

The group representatives said the books help underprivileged students with SAT preps and the books are essential to the group’s mission.

R. Desai said this was a close vote in the appropriations committee. The group could retool the program so students don’t write directly in the books so the books can be reused.

M. Danzer made a motion to amend to say the SAFC did err and will provide the full funding.

A. Yozwiak supported the amendment because the SAT books can be reused for multiple years.

A. Bajaj said the books should be funded but aren’t durable and aren’t reclaimed so they shouldn’t be funded by SAFC. SAFC did not err. We should fund them with the SA surplus reserve.

M. Danzer called the amendment to question. It was seconded. No dissent.

By a hand vote of 12–3, the amendment passed and the group will be funded.

N. Raps made a motion to vote on the entire resolution 68. It was seconded.

By a vote of 16–0−0, the resolution passed.

A. Nicoletti said we need to put forward $300 to SUNY for special project.

There was a motion to extend to 6:55. There was a dissent.

By a vote of 7–8, the motion was denied and the meeting was adjourned.

VII. Unfinished Business

1. Resolution 66 — Directly Appointing a Policy Liaison to The Ivy Council

The SA did not get to this resolution.

VIII. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 6:41pm.