Student Bar Association of the University of Hawai I at Mānoa

STUDENT BAR ASSOCIATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI‘I AT MĀNOA

William S. Richardson School of Law, 2515 Dole Street

Honolulu, Hawaii 96822

Executive Informational Brief

(1) Secretary Report – Louise Togiai

SAC Meeting Recap

(2) Treasurer Report – Dorothy Meisner

Forming Finance Committee
Notice for dates of Finance Hearings
Update on Budget Constraint

(3) Vice-President – Makana Paris

Alumni Retreat Update
Chartered Student Organization and/or Non-Profit Incorporation Options
1L Full Time and Part Time Elections

(4) President – Keone Nakoa

Status of the Judiciary
Creation of Director of Alumni Relations
Working Group on Student Tuition Relief
Separation of Powers

(5) SBA Special Elected Representatives

ABA Representative – Kelly Suzuka and Marissa Agena
Curriculum Representative – Christiaan Mitchell
Faculty Hiring Committee Representative – Daylin Gibson
Library Representative – Laura Cushman
Space Committee Representative – Joshua Michaels
YLD Representative – Kimi Ide-Foster

Secretary Report

Student Activities Committee (SAC) Recap

The Student Organization Leaders/Reps were present and accounted for with the exception of a representative from the Hawaii Women Lawyers group. The SAC was fortunate to have the new Associate Dean of Student Services, Ronette Kawakami, attend the meeting along with the Ramona Hussey and Marnelli Basilio from the law school’s administrative staff.

The highlight of the meeting was the 2013 SBA Student Organization Handbook that has been updated and posted on the law school website. Each organization representative is responsible for informing their members of the Handbook and the policies covered therein, which promote collaboration among organizations for the various events held at the law school.

Finally, notes and announcements were made regarding attendance for the student organization fair that was held on Saturday, August 24th.

Treasurer Report

Forming Finance Committee

Representatives from the 2L & 3L class have been nominated for the Finance Committee. Confirmation of these members will be held at the next SBA meeting, before the first scheduled Finance Committee meeting.

Notice for dates of Finance Hearings

The first Finance Committee meeting is tentatively set for Wednesday September 11, 2013. The only funding requests that will be heard at this meeting are for events taking place before Wednesday, October 9, 2013. October 9, 2013 is the tentative date for the second and final regularly scheduled Finance Committee meeting, to take funding requests for the remainder of events throughout the fall semester. The Treasurer consulted various SBA members in concluding this would be the best solution for reviewing requests made early in the semester and those made later in the semester.
The Funding request form has been updated & is available on the SBA's web page. As a reminder, forms are due one week before a scheduled Finance Committee meeting and can be sent to .

Update on Budget Constraint

With the help of SBA members, the majority of SBA dues have been collected from incoming 1Ls, transfer students, visiting students, and LLM students. Final amount collected is still pending.

Because of the reduced number of students entering WSRSL this year, the amount of available funds for this school year will be less than prior years. The Finance Committee plans to meet to address this issue and come up with a reasonable solution.
If you have questions, comments, or concerns about SBA funding please email .

Vice-President Report

Alumni Retreat Update

The President, Vice-President, and Ulu Lehua Representative Keani Rawlins met with the alumni board at their annual retreat on August 18, 2013. We presented four areas of student concern and possible solutions:

1) Cost Prohibitive Legal Careers in Hawaiʻi

-Creation of a Hawaiʻi loan forgiveness and cost of living allowance adjustment program

2) Lack of Knowledge of Legal Landscape

-Setup networking sessions with alumni

3) Lack of Guidance

-Setup mentoring opportunities with alumni

4) Lack of Avenue to Foster Relationship Between Alumni & Students

-Institutionalize the relationship between the alumni and the SBA through the creation of a Director of Alumni Relations position

The alumni agreed to work with the SBA to actualize solutions to the aforementioned concerns.

Chartered Student Organization and Non-Profit Incorporation Options

The Executive Board is investigating the benefits afforded to the Law Student Government (LSG) by becoming a Chartered Student Organization (CSO) of the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents and incorporating as a non-profit corporation. The SBA is currently an unincorporated non-profit corporation sponsored by the Law School Administration and its successor governing body, the LSG, will inherit said status. The LSG will have additional responsibilities over that of the current SBA and may benefit from changing its status to a CSO, incorporated non-profit, or both. If you are interested in assisting in this endeavor, please contact Makana at .

1L Full Time and Part Time Elections

Nominations for 1L Full Time and Part Time Representatives to the SBA will be from September 9th through September 13th. The election will be held via electronic ballot and open by September 12th and will close by September 14th. If you are a 1L Full Time or Part Time student that is interested in elected office responsibilities, benefits, and required training, please contact Makana at .

President Report

Status of the Judiciary

Second-year law student, Philip Tumbaga, has been nominated to serve as the first Chief Justice of the SBA Judiciary. His nomination awaits confirmation by whatever body the SBA deems is the current equivalent to the new Constitution’s Senate.

Creation of Director of Alumni Relations

The President has created the executive position of a Director of Alumni Relations to serve as the point of contact between the William S. Richardson’s Alumni Association and the SBA. No nominations have been made. If you are interested in serving as the Director of Alumni Relations for the SBA, please send an email with a brief statement on why you would like to be the Director to .

Working Group on Student Tuition Relief

The President has created a working group on student tuition relief by executive order. The working group will focus on working with alumni, administration, and outside entities, including the Hawaii State Legislature, on the possibilities of a student loan forgiveness program for Richardson graduates who go on to serve the local community in public interest, government, or non-profit roles. Second-year law student, Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, has been selected to lead the working group. If you are interested in serving on this group please send an email with a brief statement on why you would like to join the working group to .

Separation of Powers

The President has proposed the separation of powers to the structure detailed in the new constitution. The SBA will consider this proposal during its next meeting on Tuesday, September 3rd, 2013 at 12:30 pm.

Below is a tentative SBA Schedule for the upcoming semester:

The Entire Board x3 (September, October, November)
First Week of Every Month
Senate x3 (September, October, November)
Second Week of Every Month
Executive x3 (September, October, November)
Third Week of Every Month

SBA Special Elected Representatives Reports

ABA Representative – Kelly Suzuka and Marissa Agena

This summer, the ABA representatives have officially registered with the ABA and received their official materials for the semester. There will be further announcements on tabling and events for the upcoming school year!

Curriculum Representative – Christiaan Mitchell

No report.

Faculty Hiring Committee Representative – Daylin Gibson

No report.

Library Representative – Laura Cushman

We are in the beginning stages of a BIG renovation plan that will take several years to complete. The only things we had a budget for, this summer, were cleaning and reorganizing the space, including relocating microfiche files, eliminating stored journal volumes and other unnecessary materials, moving ranges, and reconfiguring the space. The ranges have been removed to prepare for next year's flooring project. University bureaucracy and fundinghas tied our hands on many of the suggested improvements. There are some things we must do, and at the same time, very little we can do. Thankfully, we were given a tiny budget, direct from the law school, not the University, to buy a few (and I mean a few), pieces of furniture. The plan to spread the carrels out, in the 'quiet zone', has been modified slightly.

The problem, as we have no budget for electrical wiring, is to find ways for students to charge their devices, if carrels do not have power. We have had a charging station donated to us, by Westlaw. It is in the printing area. We are looking into getting another charging station, to place further back, in the library.The back of the library will remain a 'quiet zone, regardless of how furniture is configured. We are still waiting for a few pieces of new furniture to arrive. As usual, they are taking longer to ship here, than originally anticipated. When that furniture arrives, we will do our best to fill all the empty spaces.We have worked to fill the empty spaces by creating a variety of different study options, including stand-up, soft (sofas and chairs), and group spaces. As of yet, we haven't removed any of the previously existing workspace furniture. We want a little bit of something, for everyone. Which is why I proposed also having floor-seating space (the floor seating area has not gotten a lot of support, so if you are a Pacific Islander oranyone interested in a floor seating area, let me know). Mostly, we have responded to the requests that everyone contributed at the beginning of the (last) year, during the carrel controversy. Also the filtered water station has been approved, for several months actually, but we are waiting for University Facilities to come and install it. Again, our hands are tied.

Eventually, we can hope to have a modern and user-friendly research library, which would be recognized as such by any respected academic/legal scholar. Currently it is not (although our hard-working library staff are quickly bringing us up to par). I know that once this transformation is complete we will all be much prouder of our library.

Please be patient in the process of transition. Like I said, it's going take a while. This time next year, we should have a shimmering new floor, no more nasty orange carpet; a couple of years from now, a second story; and in a few more years, possibly a sky bridge that connects the library second floor to the classroom building second floor. Can you picture it?

Finally, we will be putting a suggestion box in the library. It would be really nice if students would take a minute and say something positive to our library staff. All of the students,who worked in the libraryover the summer, including some of our law school colleagues, physically moved a lot of furniture, and materials.