Sixteenth Session of Senate February 16, 2016 Stern Center Ballroom I. Call to Order A. The Sixteenth Session of Senate was called to order at 4:36pm II. Roll Call A. Absences : 1. Senator Godfrey 2. Senator Franklin III. Minutes A. Motion to waive the reading of the minutes by Vice President Faikes. 1. Passed IV. Executive Council Reports A. President Zach Sturman 1. Deni Mitchell guest speaker B. Secretary Emily Torchiana 1. Free Campus Safety App Survey a) Currently looking at different app companies that have the features that students would want on a campus safety app (1) Emergency Call Button similar to emergency call boxes we have on the campus, but on your phone (2) Friend Watch enables you to request a friend to track your walk home and if it shows you go far off course, it will notify them (3) Crime Incident Map shows users when/where crimes occurred on campus and type of incident that occurred (4) Cougar Shuttle Button track the route of free cougar shuttle (5) College Emergency Procedures provides user with safety information and resources (6) Anonymous Tips enables users to submit anonymous tips and information to Public Safety about suspicious activity b) Over 500 responses in past 4 days from the mix of online surveys and print copies of the surveys c) If anyone would be willing to distribute surveys in classes, I would really appreciate it. Please come see me after senate
and I can provide you with hand copies or you can share the link on social media. d) Ending the week before Spring Break, want as many survey responses as possible to gain feedback e) 92.5% say they would probably or definitely use this app, with the 7.5% that would probably not or definitely not use this app C. Treasurer Nick Catherall 1. Budget workshops went great, budget hearings will be coming up soon D. Chief of Staff Jasmine Gil 1. Please let me know by 5pm if you will be attending the tailgate and if you cannot, please provide an excuse. E. Deputy Chief of Staff Kate Glass 1. No report. F. President Pro Tempore 1. No report. G. Vice President Michael Faikes 1. V. Unfinished Business VI. New Business A. SB 30 2016 1. A bill to allow the Nutrition Club to become a sanctioned organization. (1) We tabled last week in Liberty Fresh Food and 80 90 people signed up to be on our email list. We have our first information meeting in an hour and we will be explaining what we will be doing this semester. (1) Senator Mordas Were people responsive to the idea? (a) Yes, very much so. (2) Motion to pass by unanimous consent by Deputy Chief of Staff Glass. B. SB 31 2016 1. A bill to allow the registered student organization Student Diversity and Inclusion Council to enter their 28 day waiting period.
(1) We are a student organization by students and for the students. We have a lot of diversity issues on our campus. (1) Senator Mordas Why are you a council? (a) We are a council to represent the students with issues on campus. (2) Director Rule What kind of programs do you want to plan? (a) We want programs based on inclusion and diversity. (3) Director Dempsey Are you a student? (a) Yes (4) Director Dempsey How many students are interested? (a) 14 students currently and have many more interested (5) Treasurer Catherall What differentiates you from BSU, Asian Student Union, etc? (a) We are for everyone, not just a specific group of people. (6) Treasurer Catherall Why are you a registered organization? (a) We had a group similar to this, called Diversity Advocates. There was a lack of dedication and commitment. It weeds out the members that are not overly interested. c) Period of Debate (1) Motion to pass by unanimous proclamation by Director Dempsey. C. SB 32 2016 1. A bill to allow the DIY Arts and Crafts Club to become a sanctioned organization. (1) We have over 20 members now and we have a lot of great ideas for new meetings. We held information meetings.
(1) Chief of Staff Gil What kind of crafts will you be doing? (a) Our first two information meetings, we made cards. (2) Chief of Staff Gil Have you done your budget workshops yet? (a) Yes (3) Senator Madera Do you have any plans for fundraising? (a) Yes, we have plans to make cards and sell them as fundraising opportunities. (4) Motion to pass by unanimous consent by Senator Eizen. D. SB 33 2016 1. A bill to allow the Occupational and Physical Therapy Alliance become a sanctioned organization. (1) We have held an interest meeting in the Johnson Center and sent out emails to those who wanted to come to the interest meeting. We increased our student email list from 38 to about 100 students over our 28 day waiting period. We created a more structured list of what we want from our executive board. (1) Senator Longtin Do you have any meetings planned? (a) We will have meetings once passed. (2) Motion to pass by unanimous consent by Senator Mordas. E. SB 34 2016 1. A bill to allow the Society for Collegiate Leadership and Advancement become a registered organization. (1) There are over 100 chapters around the USA. I wanted to hold an interest meeting during the 28 waiting period. I plan to hold a series of interest meetings during the course of this month. I am in Charleston
40, so I will talk to that group as well. I had 25 people that were already interested email others and now we have about 40 people interested. If passed, we will have our first meeting and create an executive board. (1) Motion to pass by unanimous consent by Chief of Staff Gil. F. SB 35 2016 1. A bill to allocate up to the amount of $717.88 to the student organization, Eta Sigma Phi for the purpose of attending a conference in Williamsburg, Virginia. (1) We are trying to branch out and make connections. We want to meet professors and get new people to come and talk during our lecture series. It will give graduate students to come and speak. There are four students attending. (1) Senator Elliott Are you renting a car for this trip? (a) Yes (2) Chief of Staff Gil Did you do any fundraising for the event? (a) No (3) Senator Stewart When is this event? (a) March 16th (4) Senator Eizen Would you plan on fundraising next time? (a) Yes, in the future we will. Hopefully we will plan more in advance, since we just became a club. c) Motion to pass by unanimous consent by Chief of Staff Gil. (1) Passed. 2. SB 37 2016 a) A bill to remove Bylaw _ (1) First Rights (a) We will be taking this bylaw out. If future SGA elections want to have it, they can. But, they are not required.
(2) Period of Discussion (a) Chief of Staff Gil How will we still have it if it is not in the bylaws? (i) Because something is not in the bylaws, it doesn t mean you can t do it. But, if it is in the bylaws, then it is necessary to do it. (b) Treasurer Catherall Whose discretion would it be to have this debate? (i) No (3) Period of Debate (a) Speech of Opposition Senator Lindsay (i) The debates are poorly attended. But, that does not mean we should take that away. This is essential for students to see what they have on their agendas. The SGA President has a large impact on the student body. (b) Speech in Favor Parliamentarian Broda (i) This is a question of utility. It is worth the candidates and students time to not have this be a requirement. It should be at the discretion of the election commission. There are other ways to enable dialogue between candidates. I think it is a matter of efficiency. (c) Speech in Opposition Senator Longtin (i) There needs to be some kind of event to have time to meet with the candidates. It doesn t make sense to me to completely remove this without (d) Speech in Favor Director Dempsey (i) If the candidate isn t talking to students, they don t deserve to hold the highest spot on campus anyway. There are so many things in the world to have debates. (e) Speech in Favor Chief of Staff Gil
VII. VIII. IX. (i) They only ask the questions given to them. You are not getting the full extent of the candidate. Last year, we did a PSA with Cistern Yard. We did Facebook, we did twitter, we did instagram and promoted it to other students, and still 3 people came. I don t know what else we could add this year to get more people to come out. In my opinion, there is not enough promotion to bring the crowd you want. It is unfortunate, but it is realistic. The candidate is meeting students face to face when getting 50 signatures and campaigning. The video from Cistern Yard gave more of a platform to the candidates than the debate itself. If you do not have internet access, you can t vote. (4) Voting Procedures (a) The bill passes. Committee Reports A. Allocations Treasurer Nick Catherall 1. No report. B. Student Organization Review Board Secretary Emily Torchiana 1. SPLC will be attending an SOR Hearing this Thursday at 5pm in Room 205. C. Director Burts 1. No report. D. Director Mulvaney 1. We are working on the Cougar Shuttle. E. Director Dempsey 1. We are working with campus housing to create a way for students to make moving off campus easier on the housing website. F. Director Rule 1. The tailgate is this Saturday, February 20th at 3:30pm in the Cistern Yard. Announcements A. No announcements. Open Forum
A. No announcements. X. Adjournment The Sixteenth Session of Senate was adjourned at 6:15pm.