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2013 – 2014 Student Senate Full Meetings
First: Minutes from 1 October 2013 (Full)
Second: Minutes from 8 October 2013 (Committee)
THE RICHARD STOCKTON
COLLEGE
OF NEW JERSEY
STUDENT SENATE
Notice of Meeting
15 October 2013
4:30pm
Event Room A
Galloway, New Jersey 08205
609 652 4845
Presiding: Maribeth Capelli
Members present: Carl Archut Jr.
Michelle Batista
Maurice Brandon
Jessica Carey
Louis Chevere
Katerina Childs
Caleb Garofalo
Chad Gevertz
Eddie Horan
Manar Hussein
Frank Livia
Thomas McBride
Kyle Miceli
Adaobi Michaels-Ezeamama
Ariel Miles
Al Nagbe
Lauren O’Neil
Kiyle Osgood
Sutton Pakenham-Laltrello
Damien Salamacha
Murphy Slagle
Members absent:none
Members late: none
Agenda/Business: Maribeth called the meeting to order at 4:32 and Francesca took attendance. Upon Maribeth’s motion to approve the minutes of last week’s meeting, Jessica noted that the wrong minutes had been used for her committee, and Eddie apologized for this mistake. After noting this, the Senate voted to approve the minutes.
Motion passed: 21-0-1*
*Senators abstained: Maribeth Capelli
Maribeth delivered the President’s Report, which may be found in last week’s minutes; then, the meeting moved on for Eddie to deliver his Vice President’s report, which also may be found in last week’s minutes. Maribeth then moved the meeting along to committee reports, yielding the floor first to Al for the Academic Policies report.
Al noted that his committee had still been working on the Senate constitution; he yielded the floor to Caleb to present current changes. Caleb noted that the committees would all exist with the same responsibilities but with different names and that Student Affairs (Student Welfare) would receive one more senator, taken from Public Relations; that there would no longer be vice chairs; that the full Senate will meet at the beginning and end of committee meetings; that many other traditions of the Senate had been officially codified;that senators would be required to hold GPAs of at least 2.75 and that the vice president would have to hold a GPA of at least 3.0; and that senators would now have one more absence to burn through before being struck from Senate. Caleb then yielded the floor back to Al.
Al thanked all senators who gave their input on the constitution and moved that the Senate vote to approve the new constitution. Ariel seconded, and Jessica asked when the constitution would be enacted, and Maribeth answered that everything would be effective immediately. Maurice and Jessy noted that some new requirements would affect current senators, but Al explained that they would be on probation like they would normally have been. The approval was put to a vote.
Motion passed: 21:0:1*
*Senators abstained: Maribeth Capelli.
Al yielded the floor to Katerina, who noted that professors who mandate that their students purchase a textbook they wrote do not make a profit on that and that the bookstore has a policy requiring professors to submit their textbook orders a certain amount of time before the beginning of each semester.
Al yielded the floor to Maribeth who yielded the floor to to Jessica for the Legislative Policies report.
Jessica noted that Ky would be responsible for getting the League of Women Voters on campus to help with voter registration; that Ariel would be contacting the lieutenant governor to arrange a lunch with the Senate; that Tom had reached out to Financial Aid to discuss inequality in the amount of financial aid given to transfer students and that they learned that this is actually an Admissions problem.
Jessica also noted that Damien had been assigned to figure out an October NJUS meeting; that Jessica had met with Frances Bottone to discuss the cost of students’ health care through the college and that she learned that many of the state colleges moved on this plan because it would make health care cheaper for students than if they had purchased similar coverage on their own. She then yielded the floor to Ky.
Ky delivered some notes from the Political Engagement Project: Peter Rosen came to campus and delivered a successful talk; the political LLC is looking into connecting with local AP government classes and getting them credit for Political Science at Stockton; there will be further PEP events in the spring, including Sandra Day O’Connor in March; the Hughes Center is doing three big legislative debates and information about those can be found on their website. Ky yielded the floor back to Jessy, who noted that the Senate had applied for a project called Up to Us, which could involve going to the Clinton Global Initiative and meeting President Clinton and that Stockton hadn’t heard back from the program, so it probably wasn’t selected. (Jessy later learned that Stockton had indeed been selected.) Jessy yielded the floor back to Maribeth, who yielded the floor to Michelle of Public Relations.
Michelle noted the new bulletin board in G-Wing, where students can see all the senators and submit suggestions. Michelle also noted that the Get Involved Fair went well and that elections for our new senators would occur next Monday and Tuesday. Michelle noted that we would be tabling for “Let’s Talk About…Stockton!” and that she hopes to see everyone at Homecoming events on the weekend. She noted that all fliers from prospective candidates for Senate must be approved by Len and have the Stockton disclaimer on them. She then yielded the floor back to the “pretty President.”
Al asked if senators could promote candidates, and Sutton noted that senators could as long as they are not doing so through the Student Senate social media presences. Eddie asked for clarification, as he had not understood Sutton, so Sutton reiterated. Maribeth moved on to Carl’s Student Welfare report.
Carl noted that the new parking committee was just waiting for President Saatkamp’s approval; in addition, room has been made near the stairs on the side of the food court in the Hermadrome for commuter lockers and that there would be room in the Overlook Lounge for Greek bulletin boards. Carl noted that there would be a diversity event on 31 October for Multicultural Month. Carl then yielded the floor to Maurice to talk about wifi updates.
Maurice noted that the Senate had received numerous complaints not just about wifi but about Ethernet connections as well and that the Senate would be working with Telecommunications to address these issues. Maurice then yielded the floor back to Carl.
Carl noted that Manar would finish the complaints box, which would be installed in the Campus Center near Dunkin Donuts and that she is working with Public Relations to come up with a meeting with students to voice concerns. In addition, Carl noted that Manar was serving on the committee to find a new police chief. Carl then noted that Murphy was researching LGBTQ LLCs and the possibility of creating an LGBTQ resource center somewhere on campus. Carl then yielded the floor back to Maribeth.
Jessy asked Maurice if he knows why the internet connection has gotten worse despite the amount of money that they put into internet updates over the summer. Maurice noted that microwaves and game controllers were likely culprits. Jessy then noted that those are not new problems, so why hasn’t Telecommunications properly addressed these issues? Maurice tried to explain something about new wifi points (from students?) exacerbating the issue.
Carl noted that Telecommunications had run out of funding over the summer and that they were waiting for money from the bonds.
Manar noted that 5 October is the last day to add or drop health coverage through the school.
Al asked Carl about an issue, pertaining to a librarian, that he had brought up outside a full Senate meeting. Carl said that the library would be speaking with its employees to address the issue.
Caleb asked if the committee had worked on fixing the outlets on the second floor of the Campus Center; Carl noted that they were waiting on Plant Management to correct the issue.
Maribeth moved on to Louis’s updates from the Finance Committee.
Louis moved to approve SAVE’s request to use its own budget to go to a conference. Ariel seconded. Maribeth moved it to a vote.
Motion passed: 19:1*:2**
*Senators opposed: Jessica Carey
**Senators abstained: Maribeth Capelli, Caleb Garofalo
Louis then moved to approve the Model UN’s request for $2,561 to attend that nation Model UN conference. Carl seconded.
Ky noted that the club had mentioned that they’d be bringing back their experiences to high schools but that they had not yet mentioned what they’d be bringing back to Stockton. The club noted that they’d be holding a panel. Maribeth moved it to a vote.
Motion passed: 20:0:2*
*Senators abstained: Maribeth Capelli, Caleb Garofalo
Louis moved to approve the Campus Religious Council Ratio Christi’s request for $489.70. Kyle seconded.
Jessy asked the club what they would be doing with the funds; a club member noted that they would go towards registration fees and staying in a hotel for one night. The club would be going through sessions to learn how to utilize funds efficiently, be a better presence on campus, and put on useful events.
Maurice asked if the club would represent all religions. The club answered mainly Protestantism and Catholicism.
Jessy noted that the Campus Religious Council had representation for most religions and that students could request representation for any un-represented religions.
Katerina asked how much the club had raised; the club noted that each member had contributed $25 and that the club itself was contributing $100. Maribeth moved to a vote.
Motion passed: 19:0:5*
*Senators abstained: Maurice Brandon, Maribeth Capelli, Caleb Garofalo, Ariel Miles, Damien Salamacha
Louis moved to approve the Stockton Veterans Organization’s request for $2,500; Al seconded.
Jessy endorsed the event, as it helps combat veterans relieve stress by turning their uniforms into canvas and explained that any students could participate.
Maribeth moved to a vote.
Motion passed: 22:0:2*
*Senators abstained: Maribeth Capelli, Caleb Garofalo
Louis moved to approve the Greek Council’s supplemental for $2,000; Michelle seconded.
There was no representative, but Jessy explained that there was a mandatory Greek meeting that day, which could account for the club’s absence.
Maurice endorsed the event, noting that driving is dangerous on campus, especially with “hazardous deer.”
Damien noted that campus police could speak to students for free about this issue.
Manar said that while our campus police are great, we should have someone with specific experience in the issue. She moved to end discussion, which Katerina seconded.
Motion passed: 22:0:2
*Senators opposed:
**Senators abstained: Maribeth Capelli, Caleb Garofalo
Maribeth then put the Greek Council’s supplemental to a vote.
Motion passed: 20:3:1
*Senators opposed: Al Nage, Caleb Garofalo, Maurice Brandon
**Senators abstained: MaribethCapelli
Louis then moved to approve the Dance Club’s request for $1,000; Carl seconded.
Caleb asked if it was true that they wanted a supplemental simply because they were upset with their budget; Louis affirmed this, and Eddie noted that last year’s Finance Committee had made some errors with their allocations and mentioned that he, Maribeth, and AJ had met with these clubs and discussed this course of action to make up the difference.
Manar reminded the Senate that we had already discussed this and could not imagine why people were so confused.
Al noted that there was nothing in the minutes pertaining to the specific information regarding this request; Louis noted that they needed this money to match whatever programs they had already planned in their budget request from last semester.
Jessy echoed Manar’s sentiments and moved to end discussion; Tom seconded.
Motion passed: 17:4*:1**
*Senators opposed:Maurice Brandon, Caleb Garofalo, Ariel Miles, Al Nagbe
**Senators abstained: Maribeth Capelli
Maribeth then put the supplemental to a vote.
Motion passed:19:1*:2**
*Senators opposed: Damien Salamacha
**Senators abstained: Maribeth Capelli, Caleb Garofalo
Louis then moved to approve Stockton A Cappella’s request for $500, again to offset the club’s decreased budget from last year; Ky seconded.
Caleb asked if unhappy clubs would keep requesting supplementals. Maribeth explained that these are not supplementals but budget appeals that never made it to the floor last year.
Jessy asked if these clubs were asked to represent themselves; Maribeth explained that she had told the clubs that they didn’t have to come, as they were already upset with the amount of pushing they had done to get their appeals to the floor.
Maribeth then explained that these clubs did not have enough time for last year’s Finance Committee to review their requests and so were denied monies that their organizations deserved. Maribeth explained again that these were appeals that she, Eddie, AJ, and last year’s clubs had agreed upon.
Jessy suggested that in the future such requests be voted on in separate Senate meetings to properly explain the situations to new senators.
Louis noted that his committee created the point system in part to prevent such issues from happening again. He noted again that senators had had an entire week to review these requests and that they should have asked more questions during that period.
Maurice asked that we keep in mind that time is running short; Kiyle moved to end discussion and Carl seconded.
Motion passed: 17:2*:3**
*Senators opposed: Ariel Miles, Damien Salamacha
**Senators abstained: Maribeth Capelli, Caleb Garofalo
Maribeth moved Stockton A Capella’s request to a vote.
Motion passed: 19:1*:2**
*Senators opposed: Damien Salamacha
**Senators abstained: Maribeth Capelli, Caleb Garofalo.
Louis then moved to approve the FEMALES request for $1,000, again to offset what had been taken from the club last year; Ky seconded.
Motion passed: 19:1*:2**
*Senators opposed: Chad Gevertz
**Senators abstained: Maribeth Capelli, Caleb Garofalo
Louis then moved to approve the Equestrian Club’s request for $500, again to offset what had been taken from the club last year; Katerina seconded.
Motion passed: 19:1*:2**
*Senators opposed: Damien Salamacha
**Senators abstained: Maribeth Capelli, Caleb Garofalo
Louis then moved to approve Student Senate’s request for $1,200 for advertisements in The Argo; Jessy seconded.
Maribeth then explained that this was because last year’s Finance Committee had allocated The Argo $1,200 more than it was actually allowed to allocate and that this ad purchase was to make up for that.
Motion passed: 18:3*:1**
*Senators opposed: Caleb Garofalo, Ky Miceli, Ariel Miles, Damien Salamacha
**Senators abstained: Maribeth Capelli
Louis then moved to approve the Finance Committee’s point system policy to assist the Senate in making sure that clubs are acting in the efficient way defined by Student Development. Louis also noted that his committee had asked the senators for their input and that the product upon which the Senate was voting had accounted for those recommendations. Jessy seconded the motion to approve the system.
Jessy announced the Senate was also developing a point system for itself to hold itself accountable as well.
Katerina agreed with the first paragraph of the policy but then claimed that the next four paragraphs had a lofty tone that made the Senate sound “supreme.” She claimed that the three-point constitution violation was unfair and that the Finance Committee had not accounted for the Senate’s recommendations.
Louis said that the first four paragraphs are simple and that when clubs need to come in front of the accountability board, they also have their advisor(s) their to avoid an unfair bias against them. Louis said that if evidence amassed, a club could be absolved of its three points.
Katerina tried to note something about the six-point limit and Louis interrupted to explain that clubs and the appeals panel have a choice to bring their issues to Student Development. Katerina mentioned that clubs want to have this outlined in the point system, because as it stands it says that most things are up to the appeals panel’s discretion.
Eddie interrupted, explaining that Louis and Katerina were allowing their tones to become angry. He asked the two to take a second to step back, relax, and bring their tones down.