ASSOCIATED STUDENTS OF

IDAHO STATE UNIVERSITY

STUDENT SENATE MEETING

SALMON RIVER SUITE, PSU

7:00pm

FEBRUARY 9, 2011

CALL TO ORDER

Chair Lankford, in the Salmon River Suite, PSU, called the meeting to order at 7:00pm.

ROLL CALL

ASISU Secretary Emily Koskella took roll. All Senators were present. Executive Director, Student Unions and Involvement, Lowell Richards, was in attendance. MOVE TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM FEBRUARY 2, 2011. Stokes/Chupp. Unanimous. MOTION CARRIED. MOVE TO APPROVE THE AGENDA WITH THE AMENDMENT TO . Stokes/Zamora. Unanimous. MOTION CARRIED.

President’s Report

President Jahnke thanked Senator Holly Saltzman for forwarding the email from Diane Bilyeu to ASISU officers. The health department is interested in getting feedback on a smoke free campus. They will send out a survey.

The Diversity Center is holding an event for Black History Month on February 28.

Next week President Jahnke will go to Boise for the State Board of Education meeting. She will let the Senate know what happens there.

Senator Zamora asked if the Black History Month will be during the day or evening. It will take place around noon.

Senator Wagner said there is an organization at other universities called Smoke Free and Sexy promoting being smoke-free. This would be a fun opportunity to advertise this. He will bring some material on the organization.

CHAIR/COMMITTEE REPORTS

Finance Committee—Senator Lankford announced the committee met and voted on the Theatre ISU proposal. Their proposal was defeated. Matched deposits were approved in an amount of $3,050.64. MOVE TO APPROVE MATCHED DEPOSITS. Lankford/Zamora. Unanimous. MOTION CARRIED. New club funding requests from Rotaract and Student National Pharmaceutical Association were approved for $500 each. MOVE TO APPROVE NEW CLUB FUND REQUESTS. Lankford/Lazenby. Unanimous. MOTION CARRIED. The committee approved a contingency fund request of $5,000 from Danson. They proposed to partner with OTAS community theatre to put on a production of Chicago during Week of Welcome. MOVE TO APPROVE CONTINGENCY FUND REQUEST. Lankford/Stokes. Unanimous. MOTION CARRIED.

Communications Committee—Senator Wagner announced the committee met today and discussed elections. It would be beneficial to announce that elections are starting to get the most people running possible. Packets are available to download at isu.edu/asisu/vote.

GALLERY QUESTION & ANSWER

Ben Mills—Curriculum Council

Ben reported that the council has been working on general education requirements. One concern that was brought up is that the course catalog will not be finished by the projected date in the 2012-2013 calendar year. It is more likely the catalog will be done during the 2013-2014 calendar year. They don’t want to do it hastily. They have been working closely with Academic Advising.

Senator Lankford asked if the majority of the council’s worries have come from making catalog changes, not necessarily with the material itself. Yes, that is correct. They want to ensure that when the information goes into the catalog, it is presentable and correct. They spent a lot of time on clarity and conciseness.

Senator Zamora said there are other departments in addition to Academic Advising that are helping out. He asked if TRiO is helping them in their efforts, or can help if they aren’t now. Ben said he is not sure on the rules of who can or cannot assist. The council is more than willing to hear anyone’s input. They get a lot of other departments writing changes and looking over curriculum changes.

Cassie VanderSloot—Elections Commissioner

Commissioner VanderSloot announced IT will not be able to get voting on Banner this year. They will use a third party system. The Elections Commission budget is not enough to sustain the system necessary to run elections. She requested to use a budget of $3,000 in order to be able to pay for the system.

Senator Gower asked if we could use the $2,500 system. Senator Wilde said they decided they would like the $3,000 choice.

Senator Holly Saltzman asked if this request has to go through Finance Committee. Lowell said the Senate can approve it straight out of the student government budget.

Senator Johnson asked Lowell if it would be possible to use Moodle for voting. Lowell said it is impossible. Perhaps next year it could be used for that purpose. There is not the time or resources to make that work. MOVE TO APPROVE REQUEST. Wagner/Lazenby. Unanimous. MOTION CARRIED.

Senator Wagner said the Communication Committee wants to know the tentative plans and dates for advertising for elections. Commissioner VanderSloot said she is asking the Publicity Committee to put out elections information both on the Pocatello and the Idaho Falls campus. She plans to have a student bulletin sent out. Senator Wagner said the Communications Committee is looking to use a few different advertising methods. The Bengal has their deadline on Fridays. He asked if she intends on sending advertising to The Bengal. The Communications Committee would love to see something in the next paper. They were thinking election banners should be up by Monday, and an article in the student bulletin by this Friday. Senator Wagner said they planned on having posters and flyers on tables. He asked Commissioner VanderSloot if the Commission has put in a request in through Creativ Productions. No, they have not. Senator Wagner will meet with them in the morning regarding flyers. Senator Wagner asked if the Commission can put out the flyers too. Commissioner VanderSloot said she is low on helpers. Senator Wagner said the Communications Committee can help.

Senator Zamora asked Lowell where the $3,000 will come from. The funds will come from the student government budget.

Senator Holly Saltzman said they want to make sure elections are going on. There is a limited amount of time and we are running behind. Members of the Senate are concerned that we are not doing enough to get awareness to students. She advised Commissioner VanderSloot to let us know if there are needs.

Senator Wilde asked what time frame the Commission has for filling their vacancy. They are interviewing tomorrow and the individual will be approved hopefully at the next Senate meeting. He asked what her level of confidence is in her remaining Commission member. She has been trying to contact him and he has not replied. She is working as hard as she can to fulfill his job as well as hers. Senator Wilde asked how long it would take to interview someone to replace him. She doesn’t know. They would have to have a candidate to interview. Senator Wilde asked when they should expect advertising to be out. She will email Princess tomorrow regarding The Bengal and get a student memo in tomorrow.

Senator Steven Saltzman said he is concerned. He asked if we need to remove the commission member and find someone else. Commissioner VanderSloot said she is concerned that she is being spread too thin. Senator Steven Saltzman asked how long it would take to get an application filled. It wouldn’t take very long. Senator Steven Saltzman asked how we would go about removing someone. Lowell said there is a Communications Committee, especially Senator Wagner, who is capable of advertising and getting elections in time. By the time the Commission spot is filled, the brunt of the work may be over.

Senator Wilde asked Senator Wagner if the Communications Committee will accept the responsibility and remove the person. They will accept that responsibility.

Senator Holly Saltzman said packets go out February 11, and they are due February 28.

Senator Wagner said he will go to the office tomorrow to put everything together and send out the email.

Lowell said the office just needs the information to go in the student bulletin. Heidi can send it out.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND CORRESPONDENCE

1.  Ross Knight—Legislative Update

Ross said is great to be before the Senate again. He made a presentation on the updates from the capitol. Idaho is about $130 million short in revenue. The shortage will be filled by agencies within the state, specifically higher education and Health and Welfare. The state will make targeted cuts to fund what they see is most important to Idaho. The state does not want to look for new revenue. There are some ideas to generate revenue, but legislators aren’t in favor of them. Higher education currently receives 8.8% of the state budget. ISU received $100 million this year. We lost $5.2 million from last year. A question at hand is whether higher education is a public or private good. It has been treated as a private good. We will probably see at least another 10% cut. Public education has priority over higher education. We need to be involved with our representatives. We can write letters to legislators on why funding is important. Only 35% of those who voted in this district were under 50 years old. We can encourage our parents to write letters to legislators on the importance of education. We can visit the capitol. He encouraged us to visit with representatives.

Senator Steven Saltzman said going to Boise so early in the morning is exhausting. Ross said they can consult with President Jahnke about accommodations the night before. Senator Steven Saltzman asked why the legislature is not looking into the sin tax. The consensus is to have no new taxes, whatever they may be. The idea of increasing taxes for something already using too many resources is not an option to legislators.

Senator Wilde asked what the consensus is on cuts on higher education. Ross said higher education has already been cut a lot. We are seeing larger cuts in health and welfare and higher education. Our funding is already reduced a lot.

Senator Holly Saltzman said she has gone to Boise and spoken with legislators. The current legislature is not at the sentiment that funding higher education is important. She doesn’t see us swaying them one way or another. It seems the only option is to get more involved in elections and elect legislators who do support and value higher education. President Knight said there are a few ways to look at it. To do nothing would be worse than trying. We do need to get involved in elections. If we are going to change the way the government is run, we have to be visible to people making those decisions. It has to be done year after year. There won’t be an immediate change, but it is viable.

Senator Stokes asked if there are any particular actions happening in the future that we would be interested in going to in Boise. March 11 is when the budget will be set. They will consult with education committees shortly thereafter. Any time through February and March would be good times to visit the capitol.

Senator Lankford said oftentimes, cuts are made because budgets are wasteful and overinflated. Since 1987, there has only been one year tuition hasn’t gone up. Still, there are good years and bad years. He asked if Lobbyist Knight gets the sense legislators think there is waste and over inflation in education. Lobbyist Knight said it would be tough to find a waste in higher education. However, we don’t have the resources or people to police whether there is waste. The restructuring was partly due to becoming more efficient. In a lot of ways the sentiment that cuts are necessary to cut waste is true, but only to a point. In a sense, we are taking out the loans to fund the problem. The bottom line is we will see increases to our tuition. There are a lot of ways to cut the pie. Lobbyist Knight said it is very important we are involved in the legislative process and have some type of say in how our future is run.

2.  Jim Fullerton—ISU Reading Project

Jim said Senator Steven Saltzman is on the committee. They have been doing this reading project for a number of years. They usually like to bring the author of the reading project book to the campus. This year, the author of the book is from England and cannot come to the US. The theme of the book is about autism. It is an important social issue because many families are affected. Temple Grandin is coming to our campus instead of the author. She signed a contract with ISU in June. Temple was named one of the 100 most influential people by Time magazine. An HBO movie was made about her. She has won awards at Golden Globes, Emmys, and Screen Actors’ Guild. Her popularity is skyrocketing. The event is March 9 at 7pm at the SPAC. ISU has been receiving calls from all over Idaho and surrounding states regarding the event. The whole idea of the project is to get everyone on the same page. A librarian in Seattle started this a number of years ago, and they called it “On the Same Page.” Campuses all over the country are starting to have reading projects that are a benefit to the learning experience.

Senator Steven Saltzman asked what we can do to make sure the reading project doesn’t die next year. There have been personnel changes. Jim is hopeful to continue the project. The committee will discuss next Thursday what they can do to keep the project. They would love to have the library or Student Success Center step up. We are facing difficult budget shortfalls and cuts. It is harder to continue all the programs that help make this university what it is. Because of circumstances, they are trying to pull it together and see if the reading project will continue.

Senator Gower asked if there are keynote speaker tickets. You can get free tickets in advance starting February 23 in the SPAC box office. They are printed, reserved tickets. There is a 1200 person capacity. They are worried it will sell out. In the past, the most they have had attend the keynote speaker is 600 people. However, they are getting a lot of calls on the matter. It is a big event.