Minutes
University Assembly
Wednesday, March 31, 1999
Art Gallery, WSH

I. Call to Order

M. Esposito called the meeting to order at 4:33pm. He excused several members for their absences due to the holiday.

II. Additions to the Agenda

No additions were made to the agenda.

III. Open Forum

G. Brandt remarked on the student riots that occurred in the past weeks at Eastern Michigan and stated that the President of the University announced that any students with criminal activity would be dismissed. He inquired as to Cornell’s policy should such an event occur involving Cornell students.

C. Gardner clarified that Cornell’s judicial system only has jurisdiction over events that occur on campus.

IV. Approval of the Minutes

The minutes of the February 24, 1999 meeting were approved as submitted by acclamation.

V. Report from the Chair

Assemblies Leadership Meeting

M. Esposito announced that at the meeting last month the joint Assemblies were working on a statement on how to communicate better with the administration as well as with the other Assemblies. Since then Vice President Murphy and Senior Vice President Rogers have also written a statement calling for members of the constituent Assemblies to suggest names that should be members on committees that the central administration forms.

Executive Breakfast

M. Esposito reported that the statement on communication was also discussed at the breakfast. The statement turned out to be very positive for the Assemblies and the administration.

Judicial Administration Search Committee

M. Esposito reported that over 200 people applied for the position of Judicial Administrator. The administration narrowed the applicant pool down to 9 and now they have chosen 5 to bring to campus next week. The administration should have a decision on which applicant they choose before the April meeting.

M. Esposito introduced a new member of the University Assembly, Tanya Sokolsky, from the GPSA and a graduate student in Genetics and Development.

University Assembly Program Document Schedule

M. Esposito announced that the Program Documents for The Cornell Campus Store and University Health Services will be discussed during the meeting on April 28, 1999.

VI. Constituent Assemblies Report

Student Assembly

K. McNamara announced that the SA recently passed the Transportation Resolution requesting bus services on Sunday and they have been doing a lot of work to update the Charter.

Graduate and Professional Student Assembly

D. Carlson reported that the GPSA has mostly just been doing a lot of housekeeping; they are working on the area of the Charter concerning funding for groups.

Employee Assembly

M. Esposito informed the UA that the EA is in the midst of Elections and that the results should be in by the next meeting. Also, they are planning for a Presidential Address to the employees in June.

Faculty Senate

B. Lewis stated that there was nothing of interest to report.

VII. New Business

Cornell United Religious Work Program Document

Rev. Robert Johnson reported that it has been a good year for Sage. It has been decided that after 18years, the restrooms will be completely renovated this summer. He also announced that Anabel Taylor Hall has been making adjustments to accommodate Hillel, which is now expanding and a new Rabbi has been hired. Much student programming has been going on there also. He announced that the Episcopal Chaplain, Eric Brewster, who has been at Cornell for over 30 years will be retiring. The Baccalaureate Service speaker will be Harold Bloom, and next year it will be William Buckley. He also announced that there have been a few program fee changes: the Caf� fee has been raised $10 and the use of Sage Chapel for weddings has been raised $25.

M. Esposito asked whether Hillel will eventually get their own off-site location.

R. Johnson replied that the issue has been put on hold for at least three years; meanwhile they will concentrate on building an endowment and a program. Consideration is being given to accommodating Hillel in an addition to Anabel Taylor Hall; a site has already been approved by the Board of Trustees.

G. Brandt inquired as to the competition for Student Sermons.

R. Johnson informed him that they are down to three finalists: the son of an Episcopal minister, a Muslim student, and Michael Johnson whose father is minister to the Hopi Indians.

G. Brandt asked for R. Johnson’s comments on the Campus Climate Committee.

R. Johnson replied that he had hoped to hold discussions by spring following the model of the Johnson School which basically addresses the question: “How do you experience difference at Cornell?” By April they hope to have discussions with 8–12 units. He mentioned one of his concerns as being that some think the discussions are ‘sensitivity training’ while really it is an effort to address important issues and attempt to improve the campus climate.

M. Esposito inquired as to why it appears in the program document that the administrative salaries have decreased.

R. Johnson explained that benefits are not reflected in the figure in the program document.

The Assembly unanimously passed the Cornell United Religious Work Program Document.

Office of Transportation Services Program Document

M. Esposito explained that the Assembly will only be viewing a draft today and will not vote on this document.

C.Cohen highlighted several aspects of the document: the “S” parking permit has been deleted and the “MT” permit was created. He explained that there were far more “S” permits than parking spaces, so reassigning the permit has allowed Transportation to reevaluate the entire situation and get a better idea of how the lots are being used. He remarked that the transition was made with few complaints from the community. Another major change has been presented to the T-Cat Board of Directors. Because CU Transit, Tompkins Transit, and Ithaca Transit no longer feel like they exist as three separate entities, there will be a route and fare consolidation. As a result, busses will run more frequently, service will be extended farther into the community, and there will be weekend service — even on Sunday. As a part of this, there will no longer be a campus zone and therefore no campus pass. Instead, there will be a single bus pass that is good anywhere in the county for $60 per semester. He highlighted one final change: The Plus Pass Package will now come with a free omniride bus pass rather than just the campus pass.

M. Esposito asked what the cost is to park in B-lot.

C. Cohen replied that people pay to buy the parking permit at the regular rate of $250.81.

M. Esposito asked where the initiative came to put signs with schedules up at the bus stops.

C. Cohen explained that it was a response to a push by students on TAC.

D. DiBene asked whether that schedule posting project has been completed.

C. Cohen replied that it has not yet. Some of the more popular stops have been done and they do not want to do all of the stops since the routes will soon be changing.

A UA member asked whether Ride Share has been successful.

C. Cohen said that it has been very successful in reducing traffic and that without that and other programs the University would have had to have build 2400 additional parking spaces.

M. Pritts inquired as to how Transportation determines the increase in parking fees. He noted that they increase disproportionately to salary increase.

C. Cohen explained that Transportation is currently in its second year of a three-year agreed upon incremental program. The increases depend on which permit is purchased.

R. Thomas asked why it costs extra to purchase a permit to use a handicap parking space.

C. Cohen explained that they do not treat people with handicaps differently than they would treat any other person, therefore, they have to pay for the level of service they are receiving.

M. Schaffer mentioned that there are no spots on campus where students may park briefly�not even at night�without getting ticketed. She asked whether any changes could be made.

C. Cohen explained that during the day, there just is no room to accommodate student parking. However, during the night the majority of central campus is available to students.

D. Levitsky noted that the paragraph on bicycles seems to be contradictory: while it encourages bike use it is restricting bike use to more and more areas.

C. Cohen explained that there are no plans to change what routes already exist, but there is a continual effort to get people to comply with the regulations. He also explained that the statement comes from a concern for cross-walk safety�especially on East Avenue.

D. Carlson asked whether they will be taking any measures to ticket people for riding their bikes across the footbridge.

C. Cohen replied that part of the plan for the program overall is to work on educating people and enforcement. However, there is not a lot that can be done for that specific problem.

C. Cohen noted that eliminating parking at Helen Newman due to the new dorms to be built on North Campus is no longer being planned.

G. Brandt mentioned that as the department changes parking regulations, they need to make an extraordinary effort to make people aware of those changes because it is they who will have to pay for tickets should they violate a regulation that they did not even know was in place. He sited the example of the recent restrictions in parking day or night around Day Hall

C. Cohen explained that the department works with building coordinators to notify employees. Also warning tickets are issued for two weeks after the change. In the few cases where Cornell employees challenge tickets that they received because they were not aware of the change, the tickets have been excused.

D. Carlson inquired as to whether the department had considered a bus pass for infrequent riders.

C. Cohen replied that they have considered such a pass and would like to install card swipes on the buses.

The following issues and concerns were also discussed: pedestrian signals or signs which say “State law requires you to stop for pedestrians” at mid-block cross-walks, a cross-walk on Campus Road as well as in front of College-Town Bagels, a traffic light on 366, and issuing tickets during the weekends.

M. Esposito encouraged the Assembly to take any more questions concerning transportation to Betty Lewis as she is on the Transportation Advisory Committee.

VIII. University Committee Reports

M. Esposito confirmed all the committee assignments.

IX. Adjournment

M. Esposito announced that all should attend the next UA meeting on April 28th because three program documents will be voted on. He adjourned the meeting at 5:47pm.