Minutes for Jan. 19th

Student Senate Home > Get Informed > Minutes > Jan 19th 2005

Opening & Reports

(No statements are direct quotes unless specified by quotation marks.)

President Cailao called the meeting to order at 5:05 p.m. by the Senate Clock.

Roll call

Guests:

• Amber Smith

• Bekes Mossa

• Colleen Maher

• Candace Hinke

• Briana Walker

• Carolyn Motl

• Cody Nelson

Approval of the Agenda

Haken moves, Brown seconds to approve the agenda.

Approval of the Minutes

Unanimous Approval.

Public Hearing

Strohmeier

MSUSA, for new senators and public gallery, is a student association for 7 state universities.  The board of directors is comprised of the Presidents at 7 state universities and 4 at large board
members, 2 of which are at MSUM (Emilie Mihal and Nick Gaines)

-MSUSA has hired a new MSUSA On-Campus Intern Joe Larson.

We are working on two Campaigns this semester.

The Minnesota Caucus Campaign:
-We intend to attempt to get students to attend the caucuses in March
-The first step is to identify precinct captains to recruit 8 other students to go with them
-We hope to promote coalition building with college democrats and college republicans.

Minnesota Textbook Campaign
-We will be collecting postcard stories from students to urge Governor, Attorney General and Minnesota State Legislature to create a Minnesota Textbook Commission. The commission will investigate publishing companies tactics-release of new editions, bundling, and high textbook prices.

Bard

There is a lobby day sheet going around is there a date on that?

Strohmeier

The date is April 2nd.

Elkin

The lobby sheet is just for our information, in order to break into groups.  It is not an actual sign up sheet. It is just an information sheet.

Mihal 

The wellness center website contains a sentence saying the dragon wellness center is free to students.  However,I believe that there is a 55 dollar fee.  If we are being charged a fee it is a lie to say it is absolutely free to students.

Wiese

We can do some rewording of that.

Mihal

So we are being charged a fee?

Wiese

Yes.

Elkin

Students are having problems getting their books.  Many students did not see that financial aid charging has stopped. I don’t know if that has not been publicized enough. Also the bookstore is only open until four. For the first few weeks it would make sense to be open longer, especially since many students work.

Ascheman

I have a class this term in Lommen classroom 95. I have heard nothing but complaints by students and professors that the heating system is louder than the professor.

Schwegel

Several students have received an error message when trying to print on campus.  The  message says that they need a password. This occurs most specifically in the library lab.

Ellsworth

Senator Ascheman what room was it that you mentioned?

Ascheman

It is either room 94 or room 95.

Mihal

I have a Monday class and it is the 2^nd week of school and I still have no professor. Because of this I have not been able to order books either.

The class is CN 455 heavy highway.

Reports

Advisor Wiese

The President and I met with the Office of the Chancellor on Tuesday to discuss the Union and Residence Hall Revenue Fund Reinvestment Program aka deferred maintenance of CMU and residence halls.  I also attended the BOT meeting where the tuition request and dining services contracts were reviewed.  The Student Activity Fee review Committee met last Friday and will meet again on January 20th to hear presentations from Hendrix/Wellness and SABC.

A reminder to students and senate that we are on an accelerated timeline to meet the BOT deadline with these fees.  The architects, Hasting and Chivetta from St. Louis, will be coming to the next senate meeting (Jan 26th) to present the most recent building design for review.

No questions on the report.

Justin Schwegel (Treasurer)

( No report )

Elkin

Are these the T-shirts from last year?

Schwegel

That is correct.

Elkin

What about this year?

Mihal

Have you paid for your T-shirt?

Schwegel

Not yet.

James Cailao (President)

Greetings All, I hope that every one's second week of classes is going well.  I'm glad to see that we are moving into the swing of things so quickly and efficiently.

Please be sure that you have signed up for an office hour by the end of this week. It is vital that we have an individual in the Senate office as often as possible to answer any questions or address any concerns students may have.

This week I attended several committee meetings, including SABC and SAFR. We have studied the requests and numbers for SABC thoroughly and are requesting a 4.2% increase.  I firmly believe that this is a responsible and fiscally conservative number to request given the number of changes within the budget, and am pleased with the committee's decision.  At this time, we are still reviewing student activity spending as a whole, and will continue with presentations and questions before arriving at final numbers.

I sent out a full list of the committee make-up. Please review this list so you are aware as to which committee you are a member of.  Also, I would appreciate if the chairs could email me when and where they meet.  Be sure to communicate with your members! The bulk of our Senate work should be done in committee, this will ensure an efficient and effective Senate meeting.  Be listening during public hearing to identify problems which fall within your "jurisdiction" and interests.

Newly elected and newly appointed Senators, please check your office mailboxes for your Senate Manuals.

Ascheman

Is there any update on the hunt for a new Vice President?

Cailao

I believe the nomination committee will have thier selection on the 26^th of this month.

Jennifer Costley (Secretary)

• Did minutes

• Did attendance

• Please send you reports via email

No questions on the report.

Emilie Mihal (Special Projects)

-I assisted with the minutes

-I attended committee meetings

-I also sort of took over Vice President search committee.

No questions on the report

Committee on Committees (Chair Obach)

Attendance

• Obach (Present)

• Haken (Present)

• Bliss (Present)

We met to discuss the committees we need to target for membership.  We divvied those up.  If you know of any committees that need members, let me or Haken know.

( No questions as Obach submitted his report after the meeting. )

Campus Affairs (Chair Randhawa)

Attendance

• Randhawa (Present)

• Bard (Present)

• Ellsworth (Present)

• Wagner (Present)

Report

-Campus Affairs met at its old time. 

-The new member was shown the ropes. 

-I am still trying to set up a time for the rest of the semester.

No questions on the Report

Cultural Diversity Sub Committee (Chair Oni) & MSUSA Cultural Diversity Rep. (Oni)

Report

- There are two senate members interested in being on the committee.

-The Advocate produced a  good article on diversity. You should all try to get a hold of it. I am working to get the subject of  the article to sit down with us about issues she is facing or has faced regarding diversity.

-Meetings will be on Monday about 11 but I am not positive on that yet. Please meet with me after the meeting.

No questions on the Report

Legislative & Internal Affairs (Chair Wilson-Mattson)

Attendance

        -Ascheman (present)

        -Zieher (present)

        -Wilson-Mattson (present)

        -McCauley (not present)

Report

- The Committee brainstormed ideas for this semester.

- We went over part of the Student Senate Constitution.

- We also had a meeting on Monday, January 16th at 3:00pm.

No questions on the Report

Marketing (Chair Brown)

Attendance

• Short (Present)

• Ludden (Present)

• Brown (Present)

Report

-I talked to members in order to set up a meeting time.

-We will be meeting on Wednesdays at 1:00.

-Sweatshirts are being ordered tomorrow.

No questions on the Report

Tuition & Fees Oversight (Chair Elkin)

Attendance

       - Elkin (present)

       -Lovcik (present)

       -Morse (present)

       -Ohren (present)

Report

-Agenda Items: SAFR-CMU budget

                          -Athletics budget

                          -Schedule for the semester

                      SABC - OSA

                          -Funding request

                          -Schedule for the semester 

* Jennifer will take over Nicki's voting position on SAFR

* Stephanie and Jennifer will attend SAFR

* Nicki and Mikan will attend SABC

No question on report

Campus Safety Committee (Braddock)

(No report)

Old Business:

None

New Business:

Motion SP06-2 TFOC (Obach/Braddock)

Elkin

Does that include tax?

Braddock

No, but it doesn’t matter because we are a non profit organization we do not get taxed.

Mihal 

We have three cartridges sitting there that they will give us credit for. It may even be less.

Motion passes unanimously

Haken

I think we should do this because it is the first year that they are doing it. We should support new things the school is doing

Ascheman

I especially think that the president should show participation. I think it would be a bad choice to remove his name from the motion.

Brown

I concur with Senator Ascheman

Elkin

I would like to see an open discussion on lots of different people.

Elkin moves/Ascheman seconds to suspend the rules.

SP06-3 (Haken/Brown)

Haken

I think we should do this because it is the first year that they are doing it. We should support new things the school is doing

Ascheman

I especially think that the president should show participation. I think it would be a bad choice to remove his name from the motion.

Brown

I concur with Senator Ascheman

Elkin

I would like to see an open discussion on lots of different people.

Elkin moves/Ascheman seconds to suspend the rules.

Cailao

Motion carries to suspend the rules.  Motion passes unanimously.  Floor open for name nominations.

Elkin

Chair Braddock

Haken

Treasurer Schwegel

Schwegel

I respectfully decline.

Elkin

Wiese

Braddock

Obach

Bard

Ascheman has class too.

Cailao

Are there any further nominations? I think the best way to do this would be by ballot.  Motion now reads as amended and sponsored by Haken and seconded by Brown.  The Motion is now open to discussion.

Ascheman

Are we limited to two nominations?

Haken

There can only be two per organization.

Motion carries

SP06-3 (Braddock/Elkin)

Braddock

At the last MSUSA conference, MSUSA was to support a tuiton cap of X percent. The organization could not come to an agreement on a number. So the Board of Directors chose a number for us. Students voted on a 9 percent cap. Holmes, ignored that number and said 8 .5 percent.  With a 9 percent cap everyone else got what they needed.

Schwegel

By what margin did the vote pass board of directors?

Braddock

Changing his vote would not change outcome.

Elkin

I felt our administration was good. When we told Holmes we wanted to stick with 9 he completely disregarded us. There were many other campus leaders wishing to listen to us. It would not change the vote but it would state to MSUSA that we stand behind our administration.  Also it would show that cannot make decisions based on how you feel.

Randhawa (POI)

The President (Holmes), did send something on the list serve.  Can we get to see that before we vote on it?

Elkin

I would be willing to table this if you want to bring that up, but its merely reasoning of why he felt we could go lower.  Our point is that he was outvoted 4 to 1 and he disregarded our opinions as a whole. To me his opinions are irrelevant because he disregarded the group. 

However, the impact its going to have we should just get it done tonight. I think it is a waste of time to table.

Ascheman

What he stated was that what senate voted was a cap, because of that he felt he was able to go lower. There are two sides to this. 

First It does not show a difference on the final vote and it is going to show a fracture here. I question whether or not we can handle that.

On other hand we need to send message to those who represent us that we are not going to roll over if you disregard what we say.

Braddock

I doubt this will show up as blip on radar, I want MSUSA to see that this is a strong senate. I want to show that students were mis represented.

Cailao

I am going to have to rule this motion out of order, because the motion had to have been made by our last Senate meeting, according to our constitution.

Braddock

Can you tell me the actual constitution?

(Cailao reads the constitution)

Motion out of order

Points for the Good of the Order

Braddock

Because there are some new senators. Here is a rule, cell phones. 

Elkin 

Even though our motion was out of order, it is still a good point.  Hopefully we won't have that issue any longer. Its best to bring things up so everyone knows.

Mihal 

In case you all don’t know, I am one of the at large voters for MSUSA.  I want to explain that I voted no on this but that was because that as Braddock says, there was no general consensus. I Just wanted to point out that it wasn’t me.

Morse

North Dakota State University is having issue with NDSU computer system. They signed a contract with the computer company without putting a cap on price. It is quite likely that there is going to be a lot of student fees going up at NDSU.

Ascheman

We have had a good meeting today. I encourage everyone to wish good luck to our MSUM represenatives.

Mihal

I would like to point out that Weber spoke up so soon.

Cailao

Committee chairs communicate committee times to members, and to me. I would also like to note that even though the motion was out of order, it is still in the minutes.

The MSUSA caucus and book store. If you look at The Advocate the cost of books is a real issue. What can we do to represent students? The rising cost of books is a big problem, something we can sink our teeth into as goal for this semester.  The cab rides idea was just a few years ago. I don’t think you can deny that it was a real action of substance that was made here in this room.

Elkin

I love when James goes off on rants of patriotic wonderfulness.

Announcements

Braddock

The history club pot luck is tonight.

If anyone wants to go that would be nice.

Bard

Anyone feeling bad about not having anything to bring could bring fish and funyons.

Lovcik

There is a poetry slam at the underground.

Cailao

Chair Braddock figured out tie. 

Mihal

I saw Cailao looking at Will Wheaton website and it was like this weird continuum.

Adjournment

Bard moves, Haken seconds, to adjourn

Adjourn at 6:03pm.