Student Assembly

MINUTES
Cornell University Student Assembly
November 12, 2009
4:45 — 6:30pm
Memorial Room, Willard Straight Hall

I. Call to Order

R. Salem called the meeting to order at 4:45.

II. Roll Call

Voting members present: I. Akinpelu, V. Andrews, C. Basil, C. DeLencquesaing, M. Danzer, R. Desai, A. Gitlin, Z. Glasser, N. Junewicz, N. Kumar, A. Latella, J. Min, A. Nicoletti, G. Phillips, N. Raps, A. Raveret, R. Salme, U. Smith, K. Welch, H. Yang

Voting member absent, excused: O. Williams

Non-voting members present: A. Cowen, P. Eliasinski, A. Flye

III. Open Microphone

Nighthawk Evensen, the president of the GPSA, gave a very brief update of the GPSA.

IV. Approval of Minutes

There was a call for acclamation. It was seconded without dissent. The minutes from November 5 were approved.

V. Announcements/Reports

Office Hours�Rammy Salem

R. Salem said he will have office hours from 10–12 on Saturday at Libe Caf�.

Ivy Council�Alex Latella

A. Latella gave a brief update of the Ivy Council. R. Salem commended him on the great job he has done with the Council.

Communications Committee Update�Vincent Andrews

Stephanie Rigione and Tom Naples, along with V. Andrews, announced the SA blog at cornellsa.wordpress.com, where SA members can post their position on certain issues and reach out to the wider community. SA members should email T. Naples at trn26@cornell.edu or V. Andrews to be invited as a contributor. It can serve as a great forum for sharing voting rationales. Cornell SA also has a twitter page at twitter.com/cornellsa.

V. Andrews said he just added a description and picture of each SA member. Curently the topic is the appropriation committee’s decision for Cornell Cinema.

H. Yang asked if this is related to Innovation Council’s website. V. Andrews said they are working with Phoebe and Matt on this, and this blog will be removed after the Innovation Council website goes live.

M. Danzer was curious if we would be allowed to change our pictures? V. Andrews said yes.

A. Nicoletti asked if there can be a link from the SA website. V. Andrews said probably.

Elections Committee Update�Nikki Junewicz

N. Junewicz said there will be a meeting on Saturday from12–1 in Rockefeller regarding the Spring 2010 election rules.

Healthcare Update�Roneal Desai

R. Desai said there’s discussion about creating funding for students who didn’t have health care in high school. He will have a resolution next week for the distribution of a survey to get more data.

Transfer Affairs Update�Gabriel Phillips

G. Phillips said he met yesterday with the committee to discuss where transfers would be housed next year. Currently about 100 transfers are in Schuyler Hall, which the university says will house returning upperclassmen next year. Transfers are looking at Sheldon Court or entire floors on West Campus. He will have more update after learning what the university’s plans are.

J. Rau pointed out ResLife is also talking about this issue. They meet on Tuesday at 4:30.

Internal Operations Update�Nikhil Kumar

N. Kumar encouraged the SA members look more closely at the attendance posted on the SA website to make sure there are no mistakes. Task force positions have also been assigned.

A. Latella said the dining committee meets on December 2 at 4–6. There are 2 parts to the committee, the marketing and the pricing, and both need more members.

J. Rau said the ResLife committee is working on implementation of R. 15. People interested should fill out an application on the SA website. The committee is actively addressing the transfer housing issue.

Z. Glasser gave a brief update on the CIT committee.

N. Rapps said the Campus Safety committee is trying to raise awareness of the Blue Lights. Next meeting will present survey data. H. Yang asked if people can be taught how to use the blue lights because a lot of freshmen are afraid to touch the blue lights. N. Raps said there will be campaigning on north and demonstrations of how to use the system.

Ithaca Student Ambassador’s Update�Allen Miller

A. Miller reported there have been 2 video conferences with Qatar. Students in Qatar are also starting the IthaQatar program to prepare for Cornell students going over there in the summer. There may be one-to-one swaps, but it will take some time to develop the specifics. At the trustee panel discussion, the trustees also liked the program.

Dean of Students Kent Hubbell added that student connections are getting stronger. Hopefully some students can go over to Qatar in February. He said the students involved are doing a great job.

United Way Update�Max Aggrey

M. Aggrey gave an update on the amount of donation United Way has received. As of 11/3/09 United Way has reached 51% of the $725000 goal. He suggested having one student aligning themselves with each college to make it easier for the organization to better reach students.

U. Smith said he works for the Cornell Annual Fund. Lots of people the Fund calls want to give through United Way, so the two organizations should build up a relationship.

Appropriations Committee Allocations — Chris Basil

• Outdoor Odyssey

The group requested $2, the committee recommended $1. The committee also feels the increased funding should go toward aiding students in need who can’t otherwise participate.

There was a call for acclamation, it was seconded without dissent. The committee’s decision was approved.

• Student Assembly

Due to the current financial situation, the SA requested a budget decrease from $2.95 to $2.45.

N. Kumar called for a hand vote. It was seconded without dissent.

By a hand vote of 19–0−1, the committee’s decision was approved.

• Club Insurance

The group protects against liabilities for up to $5 million per incident. The decided funding was $4.70, and the increase is due to inflation and a switch of policies.

There was a call for acclamation. It was seconded with no dissent. The committee’s decision was approved.

VI. Business of the Day

Semiannual President’s Visit�David Skorton and Susan Murphy A.B ‘73, Ph.D. ‘94

D. Skorton said that in this time of budget challenges, the administration is in closer contact with the SA and the GPSA. Please don’t hesitate to contact him by e-mail.

S. Murphy commended the SA and the GPSA for their reviews of the task force reports. Brown Bag Lunches and panel discussions are being held for this topic.

D. Skorton said he would be willing for more regular meetings with the student leadership than semiannual.

N. Kumar wanted more clarification regarding rationales for reconsidering the housing resolution #13. S. Murphy replied that before the change is implemented, it is important for SA to understand how this change will affect the student body. With the growing class size, will the sophomores take all the more desirable beds and would juniors and seniors leave for off-campus housing? We want more dialogue about this subject. N. Kumar said he will meet tomorrow with Campus Life.

M. Danzer had a question about Reimagining Cornell S. Murphy said the Dean of Students office met the 5% budget cut last year by not filling all but one of the vacant positions. The restructuring is still an open question. The administration wants to make sure there are no redundancies or gaps. K. Hubbell added that we’ve hired terrific new staff that will hopefully serve students in new, effective ways.

N. Raps said lately there’s been a lot of crime off-campus and asked how the administration plans to work together with CUPD and Ithaca Police to combat crime. D. Skorton replied there’s limitation about what CUPD can do on non-Cornell properties. Newly appointed chief Kathy Zoner explained this to him yesterday. She believes CUPD would be able to have more patrols and supply better coverage, but we all have to be more careful about how we conduct ourselves and take better advantage of the services CUPD provides.

S. Murphy said we need to hear more from student about what we can do to help students understand the resources available late at night.

Andrew Brokman asked for clarification regarding resolution 15, which adds 2 students to the screening committee for RHDs. What is the administration’s process for selecting RHD’s? S. Murphy said the general committee outline was accepted. The specifics may vary with the situation. A. Brokman asked who should guide the selection of the students on this committee? S. Murphy said the SA will work together with the committee for the selections.

N. Junewicz asked about the specific procedure the administration has for any student death. D. Skorton said S. Murphy has asked Tommy Bruce, VP for communications, to set up a more formal procedure.

J. Min asked about the Asian/Asian American Center and how the staffing works. He also asked about if university is finding alternatives for the CUSP program that has been cut?

D. Skorton said the university is committed to having increased service at the center. S. Murphy added that we cannot have one-to-one staffing. We need to look more closely at partnerships. Regarding CUSP, the university is having active conversation with Cornell in Washington to see how we can bring what CUSP offered into Cornell in Washington.

The SA thanked D. Skorton and S. Murphy for attending the meeting and answering questions.

Convocation SAF Allocation�Heather Levy ‘10 et al.

Heather Levy, Convocation Committee Chair, believed the committee needs greater funding to attract high-profile speakers for convocation.. To be more self-sufficient from the university, the committee needs greater funding from the student activity fee.

V. Andrews said the SA tabled this a few weeks ago because we want to explore more revenues. The ticketing option is still being explored. In the past we have gotten some awesome speakers with less funding allocated.

C. Basil thought ticketing was ridiculous because now instead of paying through the financial-aid possible student activity fee, we are making families pay on the day of convocation. It’s a one-to-one swap that moves money around but doesn’t save anyone any money. Limiting the number of people each student can bring is also wrong. This would simply be a burden shift from the university to the students and their families.

H. Levy pointed out there’s also lots of administrative fees with tickets.

N. Kumar said the number of students attending convocation are only � of the student body. The tickets also allow us to charge townspeople who do not pay any student activity fees.

A. Nicoletti agreed with C. Basil and asked what’s done at other institutions.

H. Levy said Princeton only invites alumni as speakers. Other institutions award honorary degrees to speakers, but Cornell doesn’t do that.

N. Junewicz thought convocation should be a special moment, not a show. Selling tickets would cheapen the moment.

J. Min also said no tickets. Only � of the student body attend because we can’t get competitive speakers to attract more students.

J. Rau said what’s another 5 dollars when your child is graduating? Parents will still come if they have to pay, but it definitely diminishes graduation.

M. Danzer said that even with the administrative costs of the tickets, we are not automatically going to lose money.

R. Desai believed everyone should pitch in for the convocation. Colleges can be judged by the prestige of the convocation speakers. Whatever can be done to make the graduation weekend smoother for the parents should be done.

V. Andrews noted that we are not voting for ticketing. We will discuss the ticketing further in the convocation committee so it’s not decided already.

A. Raveret didn’t believe in ticketing either. But the SA shouldn’t take that into account when voting because we don’t know if that’s going to happen. He made a call to question. It was seconded with no dissent. Jenn Davis from the Student Activities Office said the SA should have a more consistent process for funding the committee so we don’t rely on luck to attract high-profile speakers.

By a vote of 5–15–1, the appropriation committee decision was overturned.

I. Akinpelu nominated $8 as the new allocation. N. Junewicz agreed. R. Desai nominated $10.50. M. Danzer nominated $7.75. V. Andrews nominated $7.76

G. Phillips said that paying on the day of does not generate good feelings in parents.

N. Kumar said we should be very careful when throwing out these numbers because we are responsible for our constituents’ money.

C. Basil nominated $8:50. He said that $1 increase can amount to $13000 which would put us in a higher class of honorarium.

G. Phillips noted that Slope Day didn’t get so many questions for a budget increase.

A. Gitlin said it’s hard for the SA to give more money when a lot of groups didn’t even get their past funding.

There was a call to question. It was seconded with no dissent.

By a vote of 12–8−0, $8.50 was the amount that received the majority vote and was approved.

R. 16- Expanding Membership of Committees�Mike De Lucia ‘12

M. DeLucia presented the resolution. Z. Glasser made a call to question. It was seconded without dissent.

By a vote of 18–0−0, the resolution was passed.

R. 21- Opposition to Legislation A07638�Matt Danzer ‘12 and Kristen Welch ‘10

M. Danzer and K. Welch said that the SUNY SA voted for state legislation. Reallocate 49 mil from private universities (2 mil for Cornell) to SUNY and CUNY schools.

Call to question. Call for acclamation. Seconded. No dissent. Resolution passed.

R. Salem extended the meeting by 15 minutes.

VII. New Business

R. 24- Garbage Cans on North Campus�Adam Gitlin ‘13, Heran Yang ‘13, Talia Siegel ‘13

Gitlin: lots of trash cans on North but not at the most used paths. This resolution would reduce littering and student inconvenience.

H. Yang explained the necessity of the trash cans.

N. Kumar: who’s going to pay for this? ResLife will meet on Tuesday. Motion to refer this to ResLife.

Gitlin: we will be doing that. This is just to present the resolution and should be voted on next week.

Danzer: talk to Campus Life.

R. Desai: put trash cans on trash-picking route so no increase in funding.

Gitlin: will also talk to A. Raveret the environmental chair.

R. 25- Supporting the Dutch and Swedish Language Programs at Cornell�Rammy Salem ‘10, Matt Danzer ‘12, Mary Godec ‘11, Kevin Chung ‘11

Mary Godec: good financial backing. About 90000 dollars to keep the program. We’ve been applying for funding. We will be left with a 15000–20000 dollar deficit.

M. Danzer: friendly amendment to cut the swim test to fund the program

K. Chung: Dutch and Swedish are important languages that have historical significance.

C. DeLencquesaing: swim test?

Danzer: we can discuss this after the meeting. This resolution focuses on the Swedish and Dutch languages.

R. Salem: this may not fall under the SA purview but it puts things in larger context.

Z. Glasser: how many students?

M. Godec: 30 per year but has increased.

Raveret: how did you get so much funding so fast and can you get enough on your own?

M. Godec: next step: private corporations and donors

K. Chung: not sure how students are allowed to solicit private donations but we are trying

J. Min: administration informed you of the decision?

K. Chung:

Latella: support. Approach alumni?

M. Godec: not right because we are not sure if we are allowed as an undergrad group. R. Salem clarified undergrad groups can’t solicit from alumni until after April 1 so they don’t interfere with Cornell Annual Alumni V. Andrews: separate sense-of-body and funding resolution?

Motion to adjourn. Seconded. Majority.

VIII. Adjournment

N. Kumar adjourned at 6:47.