ASNAU SENATE MEETING #9
TWENTY-SIXTH SESSION
OFFICIAL MINUTES
Date: November 8, 2013 Number on council: 12
Date of Senate Meeting: November 7, 2013Number present: 11
Prepared by Amy Edgerton
Senate Chairwoman Shayla Woodhouse called the Senate meeting of the 2013-2014 Associated Students of Northern Arizona University Senate to order at 5:00 P.M. in the Havasupai Room A & B of the University Union.
Roll Call
The following Senators were not present at the meeting:
-Alexandria Buchta
Approval of Minutes
Motion: SenatorSimon move to approve the minutes from last week’s Senate meeting
Second: Senator Boruch
Discussion: None
Vote: Unanimous, last week’s minutes have now been approved.
Call to the Audience
Big Brothers Big Sisters –Jill is here to represent Big Brothers Big Sisters, and to talk about the programs they offer. First, the Community-Based Mentor program is the biggest and in it each big and little meet in the community once a week for two to four hours.Jill and others match up these mentors and mentees based on common interests. The School-Based Mentor program allows each big and little to meet for two to four hours a week after school and can help mentees with academic struggles. Finally, the Step-Up Mentor program is a program of juvenile justice. Mentor time commitment is only two hours a week for at least a year. She will leave cards and brochures, and if anyone wants to be involved give her a call.
Questions: Senator Simon asks if she wants to participate, would she be required to stay in Flagstaff for Christmas break, in other words would this commitment of at least a year incorporate the month-long break. Jill replies that the programs are on hold during this time as many students go home over the break.
Unfinished Business
Motion: Senator Simon move to remove Item A: Club Recognition: Western/West Coast Swing Club from the table
Second: Senator Tillinghast
Discussion: None
Vote: Unanimous, Item A: Club Recognition: Western/West Coast Swing Club has been removed from table
Motion: Senator Tillinghast move to vote on Item A: Club Recognition: Western/West Coast Swing Club
Second: Senator Howard
Discussion: Representative would first like to apologize for not showing up at previous meetings, due to a miscommunication. He believes the addition of the Western/West Coast Swing Club is a good opportunity for the community because is a fun and free thing to do. He is an instructor for Latin and Swing dance also, but this is a new thing for the students and it is more modern so there is a lot of interest. The club will help students to meet new people, and will include travelling to events and putting on shows. They already have people from LA who have agreed to come out to teach for free. He is also a part of Theta Chi and has found a lot of interest within the Greek community alone. Athletes are also interested in this club.
Vote: Unanimous, Item A: Club Recognition: Western/West Coast Swing Club has been approved
New Action Business
Motion: Senator Cabral move to add Item J: Medical Amnesty Resolution to the agenda
Second: Senator Simon
Discussion: None
Vote: Unanimous, Item J: Medical Amnesty Resolution has been added
Motion: SenatorSimon move to tableItem A: Club Recognition: Saudi Club
Second: Senator Ortega
Discussion: Not present
Vote: Unanimous, Item A: Club Recognition: Saudi Clubhas been tabled
Motion: SenatorTillinghast move to vote on Item B: Club Recognition: Socratic Cinema Club
Second: Senator Boruch
Discussion: Representative first thanks everyone present for the time. Dakota King, who is the Parliamentarian for RHA is looking to found the Socratic Cinema Club. The idea stems from the Socratic Club, which was started at Yale by C.S Lewis. The Club wanted people to look at texts and figure out what the author intends to portray through this work. King and others want to do this same process for movies. Members will go to Harkins, Prochnow, and other places to watch movies, and then will return to discuss them and what they provide consciously and subconsciously. So far, only by word of mouth, over 30 people are interested so he believes a lot of interest can be generated through advertisement. He would like ASNAU to know that they would greatly appreciate the support of the student representatives.
Question: Senator Boruch appreciates the choice of advisor, Dan Foster, and thinks the choice will be the best for this type of club.
Vote: Unanimous, Item B:Club Recognition: Socratic Cinema Club has been approved
Motion: SenatorSimon move to vote on Item C: OA: HOSA, $500
Second: Senator Libby
Discussion:Joshua Bates, the Treasurer of HOSA is here to request funds for the annual FLEX Conference. This is a national club and there are 600 people attending this conference in Phoenix just from Arizona. This leadership conference will provide members with valuable information from guest speaker performances, and breakout sessions, which will contribute to member skills as well as the function of the Chapter. This will be HOSA’s first presence in state competition from NAU as they are a fairly new club.
Vote: Unanimous, Item C: OA: HOSA, $500 has been approved
Motion: SenatorOrtega move to vote on Item D: OA: Public Relations Student Society of America, $500
Second: Senator Cabral
Discussion:Public Relations Student Society of America brings public relations majors together and gives them valuable networking skills. The club travelled to Philadelphia last week to attend a PRSSA National Conference. This conference gave members new ideas about how to better operate the club on campus, new information about public relations, and inspiration to begin a PR Firm to assist other clubs and organizations on campus. This was not only a fun experience, but was beneficial to the school and will enhance the club on campus.
Vote: Unanimous, Item D: OA: Public Relations Student Society of America, $500 has been approved
Motion: Senator Libby move to vote on Item E: SB 26-22: Public Relations Student Society of America, $2500
Second: Senator Tillinghast
Discussion: See Discussion for Item D: OA: Public Relations Student Society of America, $500
Vote: Unanimous, Item E: SB 26-22: Public Relations Student Society of America, $2500 has been approved
Motion: Senator Ortega move to vote on Item F: OA: Delta Chi Lambda, $500
Second: Senator Simon
Discussion: Christine is here to represent Delta Chi Lambda and to request$500 plus $900 to help their sorority pay for their biannual formal. They are fairly new and this semester their numbers decreased recently which brought their Chapter account down by $3000. Fundraising hasn’t been able to provide them with the funds they need, and Christine has already made a lot of cuts and adjustments, like paying for decorations and such out of her own pocket. She has already been to Club Headquarters for equipment. The requested money is for rental equipment and the rental of the 1899 Ballroom for the event.
Questions:Senator Simon asks if this is a formal of the same kind of normal Sorority formals, and if it is open only to the members of the Delta Chi Lambda Chapter. Christine replies that yes, during dinner the formal is a closed event, but afterwards they open up to other students to come in and congratulate their new members. This Chapter only has 15 members total. Chairwoman Woodhouse explains that this is similar to the band banquet funded last week. Senator Startt asks if Sodexo is catering the event, no, the event will be catered by the High Country Conference Center.
Vote: Unanimous, Item F: OA: Delta Chi Lambda, $500 has been approved
Motion: Senator Tillinghast move to vote onItem G: SB 26-23: Delta Chi Lambda, $900
Second: Senator Howard
Discussion: See Discussion for Item F: OA: Delta Chi Lambda, $500
Vote: Unanimous, Item G: SB 26-23: Delta Chi Lambda, $900 has been approved
Motion: Senator Howard move to vote on Item H: SB 26-24: College of Health and Human Services, $2500
Second: Senator Boruch
Discussion: Jacob Marshall is a nursing student here at Northern Arizona University, and is one of ten students travelling to India to work with Tibetan Refugees. In order to perform tasks to help these people, they need to get their equipment overseas. Fundraising and private donations have gone to purchasing equipment. The funds from ASNAU will go towards baggage fees for this equipment. Senator Simon thinks this is really cool.
Vote: Unanimous, Item H: SB 26-24: College of Health and Human Services, $2500 has been approved
Motion: Senator Simon move to vote on Item I: SB 26-25: Sally Barnes, $566
Second: Senator Gorshe
Discussion: Senator Ortega says that Sally will be speaking at the Southwest Conference of Language Teaching in April. The funding will cover transportation, registration for the conference, and hotel fees. Sally Barnes is graduating this December. ASNAU had received the proposal for this via email awhile back.
Questions: Senator Smart asks if ASNAU has funded students who have already graduated in the past. Shayla says that two years ago an Engineering Capstone was sent on a trip, so yes, this is something that can be done as long as the university is being benefitted.
Vote: Unanimous, Item I: SB 26-25: Sally Barnes, $566 has been approved
Motion: Senator Tillinghast move to adopt Item J: Medical Amnesty Resolution
Second: Senator Gorshe
Discussion: This Medical Amnesty Resolution represents ASNAU taking a stance, there are no specific details but this is more or less something that the Student State Affairs Directors have vowed to work towards.
Vote: Unanimous, Item J: Medical Amnesty Resolution has been adopted
Executive Reports
- President-Makenzie Mastrud
- President Mastrud reports today she, VP Cooper, and Senator Gorshe met with the Pine Ridge Representatives to follow up on the concern about tailgate. The discussion went really well and it has been determined that most of the concerns they have about their areaare outside of ASNAU’s range of control. CJ Sammy and Makenzie met with athletics. It has been determined that $2300 will be added to the Study Abroad Go Scholarship fund so more students who applied can benefit. Looking to have AZ Daily Sun Subscription available to students in the Union. She went to the Greek Blue Ribbon Committee Meeting and participated in breakout groups. President Mastrud explains that the applications for the Legal Aide have been reviewed and the first interviews will be coming soon. Tomorrow she will meet with mentor communities. She asks ASNAU if everyone had received the email sent out by the Executive Committee explaining their stance on the SHAC Tobacco Free Initiative, and if anyone has any questions regarding their decision to support this please talk to either her or other Executive Members. Senator Simon asks if, since President Haeger or SHAC had wanted the opinion of ASNAU, a vote is still taking place or whetherthe stance of the Executive team is fulfilling that request.President Mastrud explains that the stance sent out was simply their statement of support, but there will be a formal vote of all ASNAU, which will go to President. Breakfast Club Applications are due tomorrow; if you wish to apply then you must have the application in. She also attended the Club Sports Council with Shayla to discuss funding and would like to let ASNAU that a group called Feed 1 is looking for volunteers, if anyone would like to help out with this let President Mastrud know. Finally, she met with VP Cooper and Rocky with athletics to discuss the idea of running of the seniors.
b. Vice President of Student affairs- CJ Cooper
- VP Cooper reports he got a haircut. He met with Pine Ridge along with President Mastrud and Senator Gorshe and it went really well. There isn’t a lot that ASNAU can do to appease them, but it can still be ensured that trash is being picked up and everyone is aware that they cannot be going into the bathrooms. This will lessen foot traffic around the buildings and in the units. This week he also met with Rocky to discuss the running of the seniors at the last football game, which sounds like a cool idea but he will continue to brainstorm ideas for the rest of the seasons down the road and looking for ways to increase attendance with giveaways and things like that. He and athletics are trying to carry the energy and attendance into basketball season. Kick Axe shirts will be done by Friday, and survey will go out next week. There will be tabling to encourage students to pick from the four Kick Axe designs. These shirts will be available for the NAU-Hawaii basketball game. He would like to incorporate the lumberyard into other sports seasons, as it was not meant for just football. VP Cooper also met with Elizabeth Simms to go over Make a Difference Day and discuss what could be improved and what role ASNAU will play next year. She is very pleased with the way everything went. Thank you to everyone who helped at tailgate, it was small but successful. Not expecting a lot of groups for the next tailgate but sign up will be passed around next week. Finally, he is working on Unity Week and will be meeting with Rachel Cole to figure out what Olympic athlete can be afforded. If anyone has any questions pleas feel free to email him.
- Vice President of Academic Affairs- Shayla Woodhouse
-VP Woodhouse reports she attended GSG on Monday with Annsley, and is wondering if anyone is able to go the next meeting, not next week, as there is no school on Monday. Meetings are held Mondays from 5:30P.M-6:30P.M. She also went to faculty senate and attended club sports council with President Mastrud. Committees have been discussing OAs and IAs and potential changes to the packets. Next week she will be reaching out to clubs and organizations to see how the process went and what changes can be made. A student named Phillip has contacted her and a few of the Senatorsabout a 3D printing endeavor. Phillip has constructed an image on the computer and wants to make it alive, well, not alive, but an actual object. He is requesting for another source to produce it, not for materials as VP Woodhouse had originally thought. There is a 3D printer in Phoenix thathe is planning on using as a resource but another person would be producing this object. She would like to see some input from the Senators on this matter. Senator Libby asks what the point of producing this object would be and Senator Cabral and Senator Simon clarify that the object is called a Hexapus. VP Woodhouse says that Phillip hopes to display his object in the CommunicationsBuilding. Senator Tillinghast wants to know what the role of ASNAU is in this. Woodhouse explains that funding would go towards the individual to create this object. Senator Simon asks about the ASNAU rule that states the Senators cannot fund staff. Chairwoman Woodhouse explains that thisdoes not qualify under staff, as this is a one-time service. Senator Gorshe doesn’t know why we need Hexapus in the Communications Building. Chairwoman asks if the general consensus is that this object is not beneficial to the student body, yes. Senator Libby and Senator Simon agree. Senator Ortega offers the counterargument saying that this is supporting Phillip and his passion and major. Senator Boruch says she doesn’t think anyone would want to see this in the Communications Building. Dr. Brandel asks if it is in anyway related to his coursework. Chairwoman Woodhouse will find out. Senator Tillinghast is inclined to agree with Senator Gorshe, but he would also like to see more information on the matter. Senator Simon agrees, she wouldn’t want to misuse student money. Senator Cabral asks if Phillip could come in and answer questions in person. VP Woodhouse will email back and set up a Senator meeting one-on-one. Senator Simon will do this. Senator Tillinghast asks if the only end result for this is to be put in the Communications Building and left there, yes. Senator Simon asks if the Communications Building approved it for this purpose. VP Woodhouse says she doesn’t believe they have given the final word. Spencer says display in the Communications Building is used for capstones not for one person’s artwork. VP Woodhouse will take feedback and email. In regards to the senate bill budget line, as of now roughly a little over $20,000 has been taken from the line for clubs and organizations, and since ASNAU has allocated $180,000 she would like to propose a raise in the senate bill limitso this money will go towards the students as much as possible. President Mastrud thinks it is a good idea to make the funding available for clubs that do come into get money. Senator Gorshe thinks this is a great idea. Senator Libby agrees. Senator Cabral asks what the limit will be raised to? Shayla says $3500 and wants to know everyone’s opinion on this. Senator Simon says if we can give more money to things like the Health and Human Services group that is going to India, why not. Senator Howard confirms that it will be $3500. With an informal vote, most are in favor of this.President Mastrud asks if clubs that have already come in can come back for the extra $1000, yes they can.