Minutes
Employee Assembly
October 15, 1997
Day Hall Board Room
12:15 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

I.Call to Order and Introductions

The meeting was called to order at 12:16 p.m. by M.Overstrom.

II. Open Forum

a. Transit Pamphlets -

M.Esposito passed out pamphlets to the members that protested the consolidation of transit because all new employees would be Cornell employees. These pamphlets specifically noted that transit employees would gain the ability to strike if they worked for Cornell, while they are not able to strike currently because of the Taylor law, which applies only to public employees.

b. Expansion of EA -

M.Esposito asked whether or not it would be possible to expand the membership of the EA since it is difficult for EA members to be on more than one committee. C.Gardner explained that the current process for changing EA membership is very rigorous. C.Gardner said that in order to change membership, the issue needs to go to a community referendum. Twenty percent of eligible voters must vote and the majority of those voting must pass the membership change. Afterwards, the change must go through several other approval processes. C.Gardner suggested that this topic be brought up at the next leadership meeting.

c. Dean of Faculty -

M.Overstrom mentioned that the position of the Dean of Faculty will be voted on in November. However, there are two problems with this election, the first being that no one is running against the current dean and the second being that the actual date of the election is unknown. M.Overstrom requested that members watch this topic.

III. Approval of Minutes

The minutes were amended as follows: Maurice Hinchey, Amory Houghton, Bill Archer, Charles Rangel, William Roth, Daniel Moynihan, William Goodling, and William Clay were added to the list of Congressmen who will receive a copy of the Resolution on Section 127 of the Tax Code.

IV. Announcements and Reports

a. Opperman/Rogers Luncheon Meetings-

The last meeting was held on Monday, October 15. F.Rogers asked for a proposal from the EA elucidating the role of an EA representative on the Budget Planning Group. The next meeting is on November 10 and questions will be due on November 1.

V. Business of the Day

a. Cornell Community Waste Management Advisory Committee -

J.Tuttle informed the EA that the Cornell Dispute Resolution Center is mediating the meetings for this committee, which was formerly known as the Incinerator Committee. The Vet School had planned to build a new incinerator that would be able to burn all medical wastes. However, this plan upset many members of the community and this committee was formed to look into the options available to the Vet School. There are many different groups on this committee that hold a wide variety of views.

The CDRC was invited to mediate these meetings because at the first one, there were disputes over the agenda and who could set it. The CDRC insists on consensus on all issues and so, should any group feel strongly against something, that group can prevent it from happening.

The main question facing this group is how to get rid of the waste and what are the appropriate technologies to get rid of the waste. In the process of answering this question, other issues came up, such as who should mediate the meetings. One of the earlier questions to arise was that of whether or not the original permit applications should be canceled. Canceling these permits would be a gesture of good faith from the University since it assures the community that the University will listen to the advice of this committee. However, if the applications are canceled, there is a chance that the process of applying will have to start all over again, thus the permits were not canceled.

After this issue was argued back and forth for a couple months, the next question that came up was whether or not the negative declaration will be dropped from the current permit applications. The negative declaration means that there is no environmental impact statement required on the applications. Cornell agreed to this, however, the State of New York did not.

The issue of recording the meetings also arose early on since much of the meetings were spent debating which member said what. The CDRC suggested recording the meetings so such debates would not take place. However, several groups were concerned that what they said would be taken out of context and so blocked it. Eventually they conceded the point, but then the question of who should tape the meetings arose. In the end, Fred Quimby, Director of the Center for Research Animal Resources, volunteered to tape the meetings.

Because so much time was spent on the above issues, the Vet School asked whether or not it was possible to change the decision-making process. At the Vet School, there are two level III laboratories that produce wastes that need to be disposed of in specific ways and so it is imperative that a solution to waste disposal be found quickly. In return for doing this, the Vet School would promise not to burn any plastics in the existing incinerator until this issue was resolved. However, it turns out that most plastics are sent to Vermont and some members did not want plastics to be burned anywhere because of the harmful dioxins released into the air. At the last meeting, this issue was voted on and approximately two-thirds of the members abstained.

The other major question that arose from the original issue is whether or not consultants should be used. Proponents argued that hiring consultants would make it more likely for the Board of Trustees to go along with the committee’s plan. However, opponents of this said that this is a chance for the University to ignore the committee’s decisions.

Working groups were formed to address these and other issues. The Consultant Choice working group is looking at potential consulting groups. There is also the Criteria working group, which came up with a criteria. The Technology Options working group has surveyed vendors and is now comparing the different technologies available for waste disposal. The Waste Minimization group has examined Cornell’s current waste management policy and recommended that Holly Shaner be hired as a consultant. The Waste Stream work group took a sample from the waste stream and analyzed it so that the vendors survey could know what wastes need to be disposed of. J.Tuttle noted that the committee will probably have to come up with a decision in the near future. All members have good intentions and are well-read on the subject.

In response to question by EA members, he noted that the location of the waste disposal area may be changed depending on which technology is chosen. Also, some members of the committee are not concerned with costs; instead, they are concerned with which method of disposal is more environmentally sound.

b. PawPrint Contributions -

L.Caswell and C.Hayes informed the Assembly that they are meeting with Dennis Stein on October 16 to discuss EA contributions to PawPrint. The EA had wanted a staff volunteer program and a “Did You Know…” column in PawPrint. However, there may not be enough space for these two items or any other items that the EA may come up with. At the last board meeting, it was decided that another column was not desirable since there is not enough room for more columns. However, the volunteer issue has already been resolved. On campus, there is a program that deals with volunteerism that will write articles highlighting volunteering opportunities and they will maintain a database of assignments. There have been suggestions to make PawPrint a weekly newspaper, but this is impractical. As an alternative solution, member suggested that the newspaper be expanded into eight pages and have different groups commit to filling an entire page.

VI. Old Business

a. P2K Forum -

M.Overstrom reported that there is still no word from the President about his willingness and/or ability to participate. M.Purvis called to schedule the room and will hear back from them. The forum is scheduled to be held in January. Currently, a topic is still being developed so that it is not perceived as just another P2K event. The President will speak at the forum and there will be an update on P2K. The entire forum will be staff-oriented.

b. “Frontline Feedback” -

L.Clougherty and M.Overstrom will co-chair this group. Also, there will not be a meeting on Thursday, October 16, since it had to be rescheduled.

VII. Committee Reports

a. Faculty Senate -

G.Brandt reported that the Faculty Senate had decided to form a committee to deal with tenure transactions. The members of this committee have been chosen, but at the last meeting there was a vigorous debate over the chosen members. There was also a dispute over the selection committee for the new Dean of Human Ecology.

b. Communications Committee -

M.Purvis reported that the goals of this committee have been identified. Also, a new form for nominating people for the DSA has been finalized. This new form was made so that more specifics could be gathered. This will enablt the committee to better evaluate the candidates and make a choice between many qualified nominees. Also, the committee is planning to have an informal social event so that members of various committees can get to know one another.

c. Employee Education -

L.Caswell reported that there was a meeting last Wednesday and the draft minutes are out. The final minutes will probably be ready on Friday. The objectives of the Employee Development Policy is being written along with a list of items that should be included and various definitions.

d. CRC -

T.Fraboni informed the EA that there was a pig roast two weeks ago to thank all the people who helped with this project. The park use is now greater than it has ever been before.

VIII. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 p.m.