RUSA Minutes February 15th, 2018 Student Activities Center

Transcription

1 RUSA Minutes February 15th, 2018 Student Activities Center *Statements are paraphrased and consolidated for the Minutes* *All legislation contained in the minutes may be in its original form and may not be the final language.* *Visual/Audio record available on official RUSA Facebook page* 1. Call to Order 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Approval of Agenda a. Unanimously Approved 4. Approval of Prior Meeting s Minutes a. Unanimously Approved 5. Recess for Town Hall 6. Legislation a. Dr. Ben Sifuentes-Jáuregui, Vice Chancellor of Undergraduate Academic Affairs i. 5 minute recess 1. Unanimously approved a. A Bill to Call for A Referendum to Change the Requirements of the Office of the President i. Motion to remove multiple from the first clause by Scholastica Okoye, ii. Off-Campus Representative 1. Unanimously Approved Motion to amend first, third, and fourth sections of first be it hereby resolved clause to such that the president will then have the minimum requirement of serving one year in RUSA or any other Rutgers New Brunswick governing council by Adeel Ahmed, CEVRTF Chair 1. Motion to lay on the table, by Viktor Krapivin, Internal Affairs Chair

2 iii. a. Passed ( ) Motion for standard debate procedure by Nick Tharney, RBGA Representative 1. Nick Tharney, for a. I don t think that we should legislate who should lead our body. The Vice President portion that s being suggested is not part of the constitution, it s misleading. Also governing councils are very complicated at Rutgers since we have professional schools, quasi-governing councils, and organizations like RHA. I think we should just pose the question to the students. 2. Dan Chulak, against a. I don t think that there needs to be a change to the constitution. We are deciding whether there should be a consistutional referendum. If student have an issue with the constitution, they should petition to change it and then we can consider the changes. Right now we are debating whether to change the constitution and I think that there is a lot we learn as members of RUSA which prepare you to be the RUSA President. No other experience can prepare ou for that position. 3. Vlad Carrasco, for a. I disagree that there are no other organizations that prepare us since there are over 400 organizations. I think that whomever gets elected by the students at-large is qualified. The question is not whether we support the change, but whether students should vote. Students should have a say in how their student government is run. We should be accessible and inclusive. 4. Alex Anderson, against a. I m going to speak about whether we should bring this to ballot. As I go about my day, many students mistake us for RUPA and there are other incidents that point to a disconnect. I don t believe that the students have the knowledge to vote on this and shouldn t vote with their limited understanding of RUSA.

3 iv. Motion to add to the third section of the first be it hereby resolved clause that the Vice President s minimum requirement is also impacted by the change by Jhanvi Virani, Busch Caucus Chair 1. Motion to amend to read: The following explanatory text shall be placed on each ballot, along with a link to the text of the proposed amendment, the current constitution, and the constitution-if-amended: The RUSA constitution places minimum requirements on candidates seeking office within the Assembly. Any candidate for President of RUSA must first serve at least a year as a member of the Assembly. Additionally, according to the Elections Code, the Vice President has the same requirements to run for office as the President. Voting yes on this question will remove this requirement for the President in the constitution. Voting no will keep the requirement as part of the constitution. by Viktor Krapivin, Internal Affairs Chair a. Unanimously Approved 2. Motion for standard debate procedure by Nick Tharney, RBGA Representative a. Jhanvi Virani, for i. Considering that many student who will vote have not read the Constitution or the Elections Code. I think that not mentioning what other items this change impacts is misleading. b. Viktor Krapivin, against i. Thanks Jhanvi for her arguement. I am against including this language for the same reason. The referendum is about the constitution and the impact on the Vice President is not germaine. Imagine being a student with no knowledge of RUSA and now we have a Constitution and an Elections Code, neither of which you ve heard of. Including this language just addes to the confusion. c. Emily Kane, for

4 i. We are trying to make RUSA more accessible to students through this change. That comes with making students aware of what changes based on their vote. d. Nick Tharney, against i. Adding this text further complicates the issue. This referendum just amends a single line of the Constitution. It doesn t prevent RUSA from creating stronger requirements by other means. While the text provides good context, but it detracts from the question itself and what it actually means to vote yes or no. 3. Motion to amend to: The following explanatory text shall be placed on each ballot, along with a link to the text of the proposed amendment, the current constitution, and the constitution-if-amended: The RUSA constitution places minimum requirements on candidates seeking office within the Assembly. Currently any candidate for President or Vice President of RUSA must first serve at least a year as a member of the Assembly. Voting yes on this question will remove this requirement for the President in the constitution. Voting no will keep the requirement as part of the constitution. by Jaidev Phadke, Big Ten Liaison a. Withdrawn prior to second 4. Motion to call to question by Hazem Mohamed, EGC Representative a. Passes ( ) 5. Passes ( ) v. Motion to call the legislation to question by Nick Tharney, RBGA Representative 1. Fails ( ) vi. Motion for an unmoderated caucus of 2 minutes by Adeel Ahmed, CEVRTF Chair 1. Passes ( ) vii. Motion for the first be it hereby resolved clause to read: Be it hereby resolved, by two-thirds of the Rutgers University Student Assembly,

5 1. The Assembly approves of placing the following question before the undergraduate students of Rutgers University: Should the Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA) constitution be amended to remove the requirement that candidates for President serve at least one year on the Assembly prior to their candidacy and replace it with an amendment requiring that it so that candidates for President serve at least one year as a member for any Rutgers New Brunswick student governing association? 2. Two options should be placed on the ballot: YES and NO. 3. The following explanatory text shall be placed on each ballot, along with a link to the text of the proposed amendment, the current constitution, and the constitution-if-amended: The RUSA constitution places minimum requirements on candidates seeking office within the Assembly. Any candidate for President of RUSA must first serve at least a year as a member of the Assembly. Additionally, according to the Elections Code, the Vice President has the same requirements to run for office as the President Voting yes on this question will remove this requirement for the President in the constitution and replace it with the amendment The RUSA constitution places minimum requirements on candidates seeking office within the Assembly. Any candidate for President of RUSA must first serve at least a year as a member for any Rutgers New Brunswick student governing association. Voting no will keep the requirement as part of the constitution. 4. If the majority of those voting vote YES and at least 10% of students vote, then the RUSA constitution, Section 5.03 is amended by striking the words in section 1.b: Shall have at least one year of experience on The Assembly and replace it with Shall have at least one year of experience on any Rutgers New Brunswick student governing association. 5. Otherwise, no action shall be taken. By Adeel Ahmed, CEVRTF Chair 1. Motion to move into standard debate procedure by Adeel Ahmed, CEVRTF Chair a. Adeel Ahmed, for i. While I originally supported just getting rid of the requirement, I now believe that there are skills in governing associations which can be used to be a good RUSA President. A lot of people see experience in any governing

6 body as substantial experience for other positions in similar organizations. b. Nick Tharney, against i. What a student government association means is very vague. This is not as open as anyone running for president. I wouldn t support this in my opinion anyway. I think having knowledge of internal proceedings should be a requirement and experience in one organization is not always transferrable. c. Hazem Mohamed, for i. Inclusion is very important and experience is even more important. I think that the amendment is trying to do that. Not every governing council is the same. I don t know if this amendment is necessary. d. Jhanvi Virani, against i. I think it is insensitive to assume that you have more transferrable skills from governing councils than from any other organization. This is not fair to the other organizations on campus to say you need to be part of these few. 2. Motion to postpone the whole legislation to the meeting on February 22nd by Alex Anderson, Cook 2020 Representative a. Motion for standard debate procedure by Nick Tharney, RBGA Representative i. Alex Anderson, for 1. I think this deserves more of our attention as a body. I have been going back and forth myself. The time here is not enough to consider such an important issue. I d rather give consideration to every amendment so we aren t debating grammatical details.

7 ii. Nick Tharney, against 1. I will not be at the next meeting so I might be a little biased. Many of the arguments are beginning to sound very similar. I don t think that going back and forth several times is productive. While we may be tired, I think we ve narrowed it down between a few options and we re closing a bit. We just need to settle the issues and vote tonight. We should just get it over with. iii. Emily Arezzi, for 1. I think getting it over with is the wrong way to go. The back and forth deserves to be heard. I ve heard a lot of side chatter and this deserves our full attention. iv. Viktor Krapivin, against 1. Government shutdowns and delays upset a lot of people. I believe that I ve published this with a reasonable amount of time and you can write amendments with enough time in advance. People making these amendments did not exercise their time to do so. We are here to do a job and stay here for long nights and debate important issues. b. Motion to table the motion to pospone by Nick Tharney, RBGA Representative i. Passes ( ) 3. Motion to call to question by Hazem Mohamed, EGC Representative a. Passed ( ) b. Motion to reconsider motion to call to question for grammatical errors by Haem Mohamed, EGC Representative i. Failed ( )

8 c. Motion to vote by role call by Viktor Krapiving, Internal Affairs Chair i. Passed ( ) needed ⅕ of quorum (11) 1. Adeel Ahmed: Y 2. Austin Altman: N 3. Akeen Anaele: N 4. Alexandra Anderson: N 5. Emily Arezzi: N 6. Sara Bailey: N 7. Divya Bhagat: N 8. Tilak Bhatnagar: N 9. Kate Brandt: N 10. Mario Carbajal: N 11. Vladimir Carrasco: N 12. Zoey Chang: N 13. Daniel Chulak: N 14. Calvin Ferrara: N 15. Michelle Glauberzon: N 16. Lucy Huang: N 17. Ryed Jadun: Y 18. Emily Kane: N 19. Jeremy King: N 20. Evan Koslowski: N 21. Viktor Krapivin: N 22. Nicholas LaBelle: N 23. Kammi Law: N 24. Harrison Lee: Y 25. Alexandra Lilly: N 26. Suzanne Link: N 27. Shivum Mehta: N 28. Eleanor Meli: Y

9 viii. ix. 29. Malik Obeidallah: N 30. Damilola Onifade: N 31. Shaan Parikh: N 32. Ali Pasha: Y 33. Shivani Patel: N 34. Meet Patel: N 35. Mohini Patel: N 36. Rita Portenti: N 37. Juliette Rolffot: N 38. Ini Ross: N 39. Julie Serrano: Y 40. Shruty Shrestha: N 41. Bryan Smith: N 42. Nicholas Tharney: N 43. Neeharika Thuravil: Y 44. Cristina Torres Lugo: N 45. Jessica Tuazon: N 46. Jhanvi Virani: N 47. Husain Vohra: N 48. Seth Wasserman: N 49. Amber Zaki: N 50. George Zapata: N 51. Jeff Zhang: N 52. Paul Ziessler: N 4. Failed ( ) Motion to postpone indefinitely by Jeff Zhang, RBGA Representative Motion to call bill to question by Viktor Krapivin, Internal Affairs Chair 1. Takes precedence over prior motion 2. Passed ( ) 3. Motion to vote by roll call by Vlad Carrasco, LSC Representative a. Failed ( )

10 x. Failed ( ) 1. Vote by iclicker shall be added to the minutes by request of Nick Tharney, RBGA Representative, and Viktor Krapivin, Internal Affairs Chair a. Adeel Ahmed: Abstain b. Austin Altman: N c. Akeen Anaele: N d. Alexandra Anderson: N e. Emily Arezzi: Y f. Sara Bailey: N g. Divya Bhagat: Y h. Tilak Bhatnagar: N i. Kate Brandt: N j. Mario Carbajal: Y k. Vladimir Carrasco: Y l. Zoey Chang: Abstain m. Daniel Chulak: N n. Calvin Ferrara: N o. Michelle Glauberzon: Y p. Lucy Huang: Abstain q. Ryed Jadun: Y r. Emily Kane: Y s. Jeremy King: N t. Evan Koslowski: N u. Viktor Krapivin: Y v. Nicholas LaBelle: N w. Kammi Law: N x. Harrison Lee: Y y. Alexandra Lilly: N z. Suzanne Link: Y aa. Shivum Mehta: N bb. Eleanor Meli: N

11 cc. Malik Obeidallah: Y dd. Damilola Onifade: N ee. Shaan Parikh: Y ff. Ali Pasha: N gg. Shivani Patel: Y hh. Meet Patel: N ii. Mohini Patel: N jj. Rita Portenti: Y kk. Juliette Rolffot: Y ll. Ini Ross: Abstain mm. Julie Serrano: Y nn. Shruty Shrestha: N oo. Bryan Smith: Y pp. Nicholas Tharney: Y qq. Neeharika Thuravil: N rr. Cristina Torres Lugo: N ss. Jessica Tuazon: Y tt. Jhanvi Virani: Y uu. Husain Vohra: Y vv. Seth Wasserman: N ww. Amber Zaki: N xx. George Zapata: N yy. Jeff Zhang: N zz. Paul Ziessler: Y 7. Officer Report a. Julie Serrano, Senate Leader i. Senate meeting tomorrow, bus departing from Cook at 9:15pm ii. Please reach out if you have any questions b. Viktor Krapivin, Internal Affairs and Elections Committee Chair i. Just updated ruassembly.com website with information about elections.

12 ii. The Elections Committee published temporary regulations on what will be on the DOI. A sample DOI was published. iii. Truth can be shared in elections, only prohibits false statements iv. rusa.elections@gmail.com for elections questions or rusa.iacommittee@gmail.com with other questions c. Dan Chulak, University Affairs Chair i. Share meal swipes for charity application d. Suzanne Link, Legislative Affairs Chair i. Come test water samples after meeting e. Christie Schweighardt, Vice President i. Congratulations to Member of the week: Scholastica Okoye f. Evan Covello, President i. Free menstrual hygiene products machines will be installed in the next 2 weeks in the BSC, LSC, DSC ii. Meeting with Rita tomorrow for working group on Title IX in Athletics g. Jessica Tuazon, Secretary i. Visit from OBHS students on April 23rd ii. Please double check your attendance on the IA website 8. Advisor Report a. Laura Christiansen i. Ticket leader name needs to be coordinated for DOI ii. Dutta will be coming next week so let s be respectful 9. External Representatives Report a. Nick Tharney, RBGA Representative i. Senate vacancy was filled ii. Unanimous approval of constitutional ammendments which will go through a public referendum iii. Please let other students know about RBGA b. Hazem Mohamed, EGC Representative i. E-week

13 ii. Side chtter isn t to the point of why we re here ins tudent government and its disrespectful and makes the process longer 10. Public Sector a. Harrison Lee i. I ve contacted MGSGA and hopefully they will have a rep for next week b. Neeharika Thuravil i. Parkland, FL High school moment of silence ii. Vegan and cruelty-free bake sale for DREAM bike ride iii. There will be a box for in kind donations in the office iv. RU Progressive has a series of non-partisan workshops, next is Civic Engagement Workshop v. Practice Self-care c. Julien Rosenbloom i. End sexual violence campaign post-it pledges available at front d. Sara Bailey i. One of the Douglass/Women s Center staff lost everything in a fire. She and her son have a gofundme page, please donate because she d do the same for us. e. Tilak Bhatnagar i. Let me know if you need a ride to Senate bus tomorrow ii. Don t forget why you re here and why you re dedicated to RUSA iii. It s a good day to have a great day f. Alex Anderson i. I encourage everyone to call their representative on gun control reform ii. Marjory Stoneman Douglas, whom the Stoneman Douglas High School is named for, is an incredible role model for all of us g. April NJPIRT i. Met with Student Affairs adminstrators on campus-wide action plan to increase voter turnout ii. Went to hearing on off shore drilling h. Adeel Ahmed

14 i. While debate was long, I did what I though was best and what I believed in. We are members of RUSA to represent all students ii. Welcome back Emily i. Viktor Krapivin i. The safe is RUSA property and we are looking into whether we can open it ii. Thank you for a productive debate period j. George Zapata i. Take a few seconds to thank your mom in the spirit of Valentine s day k. Christie Schweighardt i. Please donate to the gofundme page for the Douglass/Women s Center staff member l. Jessica Tuazon i. Mark Conference tickets are still on sale at markconference.rutgers.edu ii. Don t stop fighting for gun control reform when all the confirmation bias is gone 11. Adjournment 12. Caucus Meetings "Public notice of this meeting has been given to all undergraduate students requesting such notice. Please speak to the Secretary of the Assembly after this meeting to learn more about how you can join the list to receive a 24 hour meeting notice and a copy of the Agenda."

15 RUSA Bill: S18-4 Authors: Viktor Krapivin, Vlad Carrasco Sponsor: Internal Affairs Committee Cosponsor: Latino Student Council A Bill to Call for A Referendum to Change the Requirements of the Office of the President Whereas, the Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA) has historically had a diverse membership, Whereas, it is desirable for students with different views to participate in the work of the Assembly, Whereas, the population of the university includes nearly 40,000 undergraduate students and over 400 student organizations on the Rutgers - New Brunswick Campus, Whereas, each of those students should have a right to run for President of the Assembly, Be it hereby resolved, by two-thirds of the Rutgers University Student Assembly, 1. The Assembly approves of placing the following question before the undergraduate students of Rutgers University: Should the Rutgers University Student Assembly (RUSA) constitution be amended to remove the requirement that candidates for President serve at least one year on the Assembly prior to their candidacy? 2. Two options should be placed on the ballot: YES and NO. 3. The following explanatory text shall be placed on each ballot, along with a link to the text of the proposed amendment, the current constitution, and the constitution-if-amended: The RUSA constitution places minimum requirements on candidates seeking office within the Assembly. Any candidate for President of RUSA must first serve at least a year as a member of the Assembly. Additionally, according to the Elections Code, the Vice President has the same requirements to run for office as the President. Voting yes on this question will remove this requirement for the President in the constitution. Voting no will keep the requirement as part of the constitution.

16 4. If the majority of those voting vote YES and at least 10% of students vote, then the RUSA constitution, Section 5.03 is amended by striking the words in section 1.b: Shall have at least one year of experience on The Assembly. and relettering the clauses afterwards, while preserving the order. 5. Otherwise, no action shall be taken. Be it further resolved, by two-thirds vote of the Assembly, this referendum question shall be asked as part of the Spring 2018 RUSA Election ballot; and Be it further resolved, while RUSA will place this question on the ballot for referendum and may make students aware of such a question prior to the voting period, the Assembly shall not have an official opinion on the matter.