Minutes — September 20, 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 4:45pm
- Members present
- S. Balik, J. Batista, G. Block, E. Bonatti, G. Braciak, S. Breedon, I. Chen, A. Chopra, R. Desai, A. Gitlin, R. Gitlin, I. Harris, T. Hittinger, T. Iwaoka, D. Kuhr, J. Lee, G. Lovely, M. Lukasiewicz, J. Marshall J. Mueller, D. Muir, C. Pritchett, P. Scelfo, U. Smith, M. Stefanko, N. Terrones
- Members unexcused
- M. Cho
II. Approval of the 9/13/12 Minutes
III. Open Microphone
IV. Presentation by Collegetown Student Council President Eric Silverberg
- There have been a lot of issues in Collegetown — students need to reclaim
- Target: promote economic development, improve community relations, and safeguard student health
- Survey student body to gauge economic opinion — see what business people want in Collegetown
- Will produce findings to City Council
- Hold venues for students and resident to engage and for people to receive info about Collegetown living
- U. Smith: Spoke of ‘reclaiming’ Collegetown — suggests working closely with the City, with the Office of Off-Campus Housing, and the Residential Life Committee
- J. Marshall: Looking into having a market in Collegetown?
- Will be included in the survey — there have been many mentions of such
V. Announcements/Reports
Take Back the Tap Announcement — S. Balik
- President Skorton sent out a report on what has been completed in the past couple of years
- Goals: more water fountains, eliminating water jugs in offices, sell fewer plastic bottles on campus
Collegiate Readership Program Announcement — R. Desai
- More newspapers to be distributed around campus kiosks
ALANA Announcement — G. Block
- Halloween at Southside outreach event — SA should take the opportunity to reach out to the community
Into the Streets Announcement — A. Gitlin
- October 19th — one of the biggest volunteer events. SA should commit a group
Cornell Democrats and Cornell Republicans Announcement — R. Gitlin
- Co-sponrosing the voter registration non-partisan rally
VI. Business of the Day
Special Projects Request: Every1 Campaign
- Request split into 3
- Videos (production, filming, editing) $750/video, $3750 total
- Hookup 101 pamphlets $0.16/pamphlet, $56.00 total
- Sexual Health Resource Booklets $0.33/booklet, $494.10 total
- Appropriations Committee chose only to fund the booklets
- Not enough prep gone into videos — price not thought out
- Also, group did not look into other sources of funding
- D. Kuhr: Where would the pamphlets go? Why weren’t they funded?
- Pamphlets mostly used for rush week
- It was a closed vote — opinions weren’t given
- C. Pritchett: Status of group’s SAFC request?
- Group currently at hearing — applying for funds for pamphlets and video
- D. Muir: Believe the SA should not be a source of funding — SA should be in complete support, but SA should not fund individual organizations and projects. Motion to amend funding amount to $0
- M. Lukaciewicz: Agrees that SA should not fund individual events, but this is exactly what the special projects fund is for
- R. Desai: In support. Issue not exactly pertinent on campus — otherwise SA would have to fund every event for women’s safety, student health, etc.
- D. Kuhr: SA criticized for not moving fast enough — great use of special projects fund
- Call to question, seconded, dissent expressed
- Vote to vote: 10–9−4 Discussion continues
- G. Block: Admits that video request wasn’t well planned. Would take too much time to find funding elsewhere. Would do so if there wasn’t pressure for a rapid response
- J. Marshall: Does not see how effective these booklets will be
- Call to question, seconded, dissent expressed
- Vote to vote: 18–7−0 Moving to vote
- Vote: 6–17–1
- Motion fails
- No overturn of Appropriations decision, so request is passed
Slope Media Report — R. Desai
- Newly byline funded organizations — as such, do not have money in their account yet
- SA will give them a line of credit until money is put in their account
Resolution 8: Amendment to the 2012–2013 Standing Rules — R. Desai
- Addition of clauses to specify uses for grouped committee funding — to be approved by VP of Finance and of Internal Operations
- U. Smith: Good that we are implementing checks and balances
- Call to question, seconded
- Vote: 24–0−0
- Resolution 8 passes
VII. New Business
Resolution 9: Establishment of the Student Assembly Diversity Affairs Coalition — U. Smith and Jonathan Wheeler
- Need a group of students to implement Towards New Destinations initiatives at the ground level
- G. Block: Will the UDC be involved?
- Understaff very thrilled to hear about this — definitely involved
- D. Kuhr: Deans involved?
- Yes, as they are on the SA committees
- G. Block: Motion to move to Business of the Day, seconded, dissent expressed
- A. Gitlin: Believes resolution is very important and asks members to think on it further before voting
- Motion fails
- S. Breedon: Asks Dean Hubbell for his perspective
- Good idea, glad that action is being taken. Key is coordination
Resolution 10: Creation of the Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion
- Responsibilities: internal check on actions of SA, liaison to OADI
- R. Gitlin: Interplay between minority reps and the VP?
- Mentality needs to be changed — diversity not synonymous with minority
Resolution 11: Requiring Committee Applications for All Potential Assembly Members — S. Balik, J. Weinberg, U. Smith
- Bringing back a past requirement
- Motion to move to Business of the Day, seconded, dissent expressed
- C. Pritchett: Doesn’t see why this doesn’t deserve the same deliberation period as previous resolutions
- Motion fails
- D. Kuhr: What role does the DOE play?
- Responsible for communicating application to applicants and to follow up with them
- Will not directly review applications
- S. Breedon: Will the applications be a small barrier to prevent candidates from running?
- If anything, will make for better candidates
A. Gitlin adjourns the meeting at 6:20
Respectuflly submitted,
Chelsea Cheng