Student Assembly

Minutes
Cornell University Student Assembly
March 11, 2010
4:45–6:30pm
Willard Straight Hall, Memorial Room

I. Call to Order

N. Kumar called the meeting to order at 4:48 pm.

II. Roll Call

Voting Members Present: I. Akinpelu, V. Andrews, C. Basil, A. Brokman, M. Danzer, R. Desai, A. Gitlin, N. Junewicz, N. Kumar, J. Min, C. Moreno, A. Nicoletti, S. Purdy, N. Raps, J. Rau, A. Raveret, R. Salem, U. Smith, K. Welch

Voting Members Absent: M. DeLucia, Z. Glasser, A. Latella, H. Yang

Non-voting Members absent: A. Cowen, R. Rodewald, A. Flye

III. Approval of Minutes

V. Andrews called for acclamation. No dissent. The minutes were approved.

IV. Open Microphone

No one came forth to speak.

V. Announcements/Reports

R. Salem said the SA will respond accordingly to the investigation concerning the death at the Thurston bridge.

1. Big Red Relief

OreOluwa Badaki and another representative from Big Red Relief briefly introduced the group. The Big Red Relief puts on benefit concerts for a variety of causes. This year’s cause is for Haiti. The organization will be putting on a concert and is looking for student organizations to each donate a hundred dollars to the cause of the concert. They will need help to spread the word and pass out quarter cards and split the costs. They will also need help with the sale of the tickets. They will need volunteers. There is a meeting on March 29 at 7 pm, Goldwin-Smith for anyone who wants to get involved. Anyone with questions can contact bigredrelief@gmail.com

2. Census Presentation�Svante Myrick, Eddie Rooker, and Kevin Sutherland

K. Sutherland said that 2010 is a census year. Every person in the US should be counted regardless of citizenship status and the data is private. We’ll need student help. It’s important for students to return the forms so we can get accurate data. Students count toward Tompkins County, not with their parents. A lot of public services and funding are based on the census data so it is crucial the student number is not under-represented.

3. Ithacaquatar�Allen Miller ‘11 and Professor David Robert Shaw

A. Miller said there will be a 2nd trip to Qatar over spring break. We are looking to further student relations and strengthen the ties between the two campuses.

Professor Robert Shaw gave a history of the program. Though the Qatar medical program is a six-year program, the students will be taking the same courses at the four-plus-four year program in the US. Every year, about 8–12 students come from Qatar to Ithaca to do research. The spring trip will help the Ithaca students get to know the Qatar campus.

4. Library Board Update�Emily Cusick ‘12

E. Cusick said Uris library is being renovated from June 2010 to the end of 2011 to make the library fire-safe. One to two floors will be closed at a time, for 6 to 8 weeks. The books will be remapped to be a continuous collection between Uris and Olin.

There is a new iPhone application to ask the librarian, browse the catalog, etc. There is also the Open Access Publication Fund ($2000 a year) for open research resources. As a part of the Strategic Planning, all the libraries will be reviewed before the end of the year, keeping the essential services while downsizing a lot. Rally for anything you want to keep in your libraries.

R. Salem asked to move Resolution 57 from the Unfinished Business and Resolution 61 from the New Business up the agenda. There was no dissent.

VII. Unfinished Business

1. R. 57- Resolution in Support of a Korean Studies Program and the Korean Language Program�Justin Min and Sung-Hag Ahn ‘10

The sponsors believed that Cornell is a diverse college and the lack of development in the Korea studies area is a bit disappointing. The Chinese and Japanese studies have been around for two decades and the Korean studies program should get equal treatment.

A. Brokman called to question. It was seconded. S. Purdy dissented because the resolution has wording that makes the SA do things outside of its legislative power. He made a wording amendment that in which the SA urges the Korean programs to be formed by other relevant bodies. J. Min explained this was assumed, since it is a sense-of-the-body resolution. The sponsors found the amendment friendly.

The SA voted 18–0−0 in favour of the resolution. The majority of the audience also supported the resolution; this added 2 votes according to the community clause. The resolution passed with a vote of 20–0−0.

VIII. New Business

1. R. 61- Marcellus Shale Drilling Committee�Adam Raveret ‘12 and Cole Streiff ‘10

A. Raveret introduced the resolution. M. Danzer called to question. It was seconded. There was a call for acclamation. No dissent. The resolution passed by acclamation.

VI. Business of the Day

1. R. 59-SAFC Appeals�Chris Basil (5:15pm)

C. Basil indefinitely tabled the resolution.

2. R. 60-SAFC Appeals�Chris Basil

M. Danzer said he will have an amendment regarding the appeals of the groups in question.

A. Nicoletti said appeals aren’t a referendum on the SAFC rules. We should not be rewarding the loudest groups over the most responsible groups. R. Desai agreed that we shouldn’t change rules because it sets a precedent.

N. Raps said that these groups need the money to survive on campus. It does not make any sense to have this appeal process when we are just going to deny the groups because they missed something from the rules.

C. Basil said that the gray areas in the rules are exactly what this process is for, to examine individual situations more closely and make a more informed decision.

V. Andrews said the fact is these groups did not follow the rules, even if the rules are stringent and he doesn’t like them. We can work on fixing the rules, but we should respect the groups who followed the rules.

N. Kumar asked about the appeal pool of money. Charlie Feng from the SAFC answered the appeal pool is the same pool for special projects, so granting these appeals right now will be taking money directly away from those groups who will be applying for the special project funds.

Community member Mike Wacker said that we shouldn’t be subjective when judging one group’s value compared to another. No group is more important than any other. But we should be subjective when a group depends on the funding for its existence but missed something minor in the complex rulebook and made an honest mistake.

R. Desai said the SA should be following the SAFC’s guidelines and not using its own judgment.

M. Danzer made the amendent he mentioned previously that aknowledges the faults in the rules and grants funding to the groups concerned. He moved the amendment onto the table.

V. Andrews restated that the rules need some major changes. N. Kumar agreed that the whole system is broken, and it’s important to make wholesome changes instead of a few changes every semester. He made a call to question for the amendment. The call was seconded. There was dissent. By a vote of 14–2, the SA moved into voting procedures.

The SA voted 8–9−1 against the amendment. R. Salem, as the chair, voted for the amendment to make a tie so there could be further discussion.

After a little further discussion, there was another call to question. It was seconded without dissent.

The second time, the SA voted 8–10–0 against the amendment.

A. Gitlin said that some human error is possible and we should leave some room for appeals for those groups who made an honest mistake.

N. Kumar called to question. It was seconded without dissent.

By a vote of 10–5−3, the SA passed the resolution.

IX. Adjournment

There was a motion to adjourn so the SA members could go to the trustees’ dinner. It was seconded. The meeting was adjourned at 6:09 pm.