Minutes — September 6, 2012
Cornell University Student Assembly
4:45pm — 6:30pm, Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room
I. Call to Order/Roll Call
A. Gitlin called the meeting to order at 4:48pm.
- Members present
- S. Balik, G. Block, E. Bonatti, G. Braciak, S. Breedon, A. Chopra, R. Desai, A. Gitlin, R. Gitlin, T. Hittinger, T. Iwaoka, D. Kuhr, J. Lee, M. Lukasiewicz, J. Marshall, J. Mueller, P. Scelfo, N. Terrones
- Members tardy
- U. Smith
- Members excused
- M. Cho, D. Muir, C. Pritchett
II. Approval of the 8/30/12 Minutes
III. Open Microphone
IV. Presentation by Chief of Cornell University Police Kathy Zoner
- Community response to incidents has been overwhelmingly positive
- Crime-Alert cases of rape and forcible touching over the weekend are open and very active
- Escort requests have never been turned away, even after service hours
- Increased lighting in places where crimes have occurred in the past
- D. Kuhr: self-defense class recommendations?
- Check posters and the CUPD website for classes and drop-in lessons
- G. Block: Any updates on video cameras? Has the CUPD reconsidered is position on pepper spray and tasers?
- There are a lot of different opinions about cameras so no consensus has been reached
- Pepper spray is usually obtained illegally and usually doesn’t work
- Tasers should not be handled by untrained people
- N. Terrones: How many violators have actually been caught?
- Doesn’t have hard data, but a lot of cases not sent out on Crime-Alert have been solved — only sent out when violators are still on the loose
- Working on a way to update Crime-Alerts on the website
- P. Scelfo: What is so different about the weekend cases that allowed it to be sent out to the entire school?
- There are mandates for what crimes the campus needs to be alerted bout: reportable crime and ongoing threat to the community
- G. Braciak: A lot of new students don’t receive information about BlueLight
- There is RA training and information is sent out as often as possible
- E. Bonatti: Is there collaboration between CUPD and Ithaca police? Workshops should be made open to the entire community. Also, would it be helpful to publish the identities of the perpetrators?
- CUPD has excellent relations
- A lot of workshops/programs are under-attended
- Always a press release as well as an online crime log
V. Announcements/Reports
Safety Announcement — A. Chopra
- Plan for the year is to increase communication about safety programs
Cayuga’s Watchers Announcement — A. Gitlin and J. Mueller
- Initiative that promotes student safety
- Accepting applications for Exec Board positions
Election Update — J. Weinberg
- Trying to directly engage freshmen through RAs, OLs, etc.
- Asking freshmen lecturers to encourage voting
- SA will be operating booths on North
VI. Business of the Day
Resolution 2: Approval of the 2012–2013 Operating Budget — R. Desai
- M. Lukasiewicz: Motion to pool committee budgets excluding Appropriations, Public Service Committee, SUNY SA, Ivy Council
- R. Desai: The excluded committees receive significantly more funding are have consistently spent money on projects. Hope is to prevent other committees from pointless spending — they will need to request funds should the need arise
- U. Smith: With the pooled budget, wouldn’t any committee be able to ask for money?
- No, committees not originally outlined receive Special Project funds
- Call to question, seconded, dissent expressed
- Vote to vote: 14–3
- Vote: 12–1
- Motion passes
- R. Desai: Motion to fund Ivy Council on behalf of C. Pritchett
- Vote: 0–13–5
- Motion fails
- Call to question, seconded
- Roll call vote: 18–0
| S. Balik | Yes |
| G. Block | Yes |
| E. Bonatti | Yes |
| G. Braciak | Yes |
| S. Breedon | Yes |
| M. Cho | Absent |
| A. Chopra | Yes |
| R. Desai | Yes |
| T. Hittinger | Yes |
| T. Iwaoka | Yes |
| D. Kuhr | Yes |
| J. Lee | Yes |
| M. Lukaciewicz | Yes |
| J. Marshall | Yes |
| J. Mueller | Yes |
| D. Muir | Absent |
| C. Pritchett | Absent |
| P. Scelfo | Yes |
| U. Smith | Yes |
| N. Terrones | Yes |
VII. New Business
Special Projects Request: Cornell Collegetown Student Council Neighborhood Fair — R. Desai
- How special project funding works:
- Request under $250 can be immediately approved by President or VP of Finance and comes to assembly as form of a report
- Request between $250 and $1500 goes to the Appropriations Committee and there needs to be a 2/3 SA vote to overturn their decision
- Request over $1500 goes to the Appropriations Committee and there needs to be a 1/2 SA vote to overturn their decision
- Eric Silverman requested $100 for the neighborhood fair — wants to show Collegetown residents that there are good students in the area and to foster positive relationships. Money is for a permit
Resolution 4: In Support of National Coming Out Day — T. Iwaoka
- Motion to move to Business of the Day
- Moved to Business of the Day
- This year it does not occur over Fall Break — hope that Assemblies’ endorsement will help spark conversations on campus
- Gives the SA a great opportunity to do outreach to this community
- R. Desai: In full support, but how will this be publicized?
- Emily Bick: Haven will be running awareness events
- P. Scelfo: Motions to amend: replace ‘strongly support’ with ‘recognize’
- Call to question, seconded
- Vote: 3–15
- Motion fails
- Call to question, seconded
- Vote: 19–0 (Community: 2, SA: 17–0)
- Resolution 4 passes
Resolution 5: Amending the 2012–2013 Standing Rules — R. Gitlin
- Motion to move to Business of the Day
- Moved to Business of the Day
- Requires SA members to attend at least 2 outreach events per month, otherwise absences will be incurred
- Members that represent individual constituencies must hold at least one outreach activity with their respective constituencies
- Amendment: Add ‘per semester’ to the second to last sentence in the last clause
- R. Desai: Motion to strike last clause — for the most parts, events were planned for the sake of planning them and most just involved giving out food. Not a good use of funding — efforts better spent on attending outreach events and representing the SA
- U. Smith: Representatives’ responsibility to reach out to their constituents
- M. Lukaciewicz: Can’t reps be required to attend events that pertain to their constituency. Believes efforts should be spent on policies that affect their constituency instead of ‘party planning’
- T. Hittinger: Would it be better to let everyone hold themselves accountable?
- Call to question, seconded, dissent expressed
- Vote to vote: 5–12 discussion continues
- R. Gitlin: Self-accountability leads to laziness. Events are what they are made out to be — not ‘party planning’
- S. Breedon: Reaching out to constituents is an integral responsibility as an SA rep
- Call to question, seconded, dissent expressed
- Vote to vote: 14–2 move to voting on the motion
- Roll call vote: 5–9
| S. Balik | Yes |
| G. Block | No |
| E. Bonatti | Abstain |
| G. Braciak | Yes |
| S. Breedon | No |
| M. Cho | Absent |
| S. Chopra | No |
| R. Desai | Yes |
| R. Gitlin | No |
| T. Hittinger | Yes |
| T. Iwaoka | No |
| D. Kuhr | No |
| J. Lee | No |
| M. Lukasiewicz | Abstain |
| J. Marshall | Abstain |
| J. Mueller | Yes |
| D. Muir | Absent |
| C. Pritchett | Absent |
| P. Scelfo | Yes |
| U. Smith | No |
| N. Terrones | No |
- Call to question, seconded
- Vote: 12–5. Exactly 2/3 vote, so chair gets the tiebreaking vote. A. Gitlin votes yes, so the Resolution passes
Resolution 6: Engaging Unelected Community Members Through Associate Membership — C. Pritchett, D. Muir, G. Block
- In the past, people have been allowed to sit at the SA table to be part of debate (liaisons, trustees, etc.)
- Allowing two associate positions that would be at-large liaisons, considering a semester rotating mechanism
- E. Bonatti: How will associates be chosen?
- Similar process to applying to be a Committee member
- J. Lee: Why is this necessary if there are opportunities for people at Open Microphone and in committees?
- Open microphone is very passive of the SA and this is just an extra opportunity for people
- Motion to table the resolution and move to Executive Session
- Resolution tabled
A. Gitlin adjourned the meeting at 6:32.
Respectfully submitted,
Chelsea Cheng