Student Senate Special Meeting 02-27-08

Meeting called to order at 9:00 PM.

A. Esfeld - Discussion of  Service Learning Resolution
	Esfeld - Same as one brought on Sunday. Only changed ….
	Passed 12 - 0 - 1

B. Wiley - Earth Week Budget
	Wiley - $750 for 75 t-shirts, $1000 for RCP Dinner
	Flanagan - Who is being invited?
	Wiley - Anyone can register for a table with a certain topic for discussion. Open to whole campus.
	Esfeld - Do you have concerns about filling seats?
	Wiley - Sodexho only charges per head. We will only pay for the people that attend.  The banner 	has a price listing of  $525 (two sided) $300 (single sided) with the Earth Week website and senate 	logo if sponsored. Will be reused each year.
	Phillips - Will be designed so the dates can be changed yearly.
	Mozaffar - Feels logo should be on both sides for maximum advertisement. 
	Givogue - What is the protocol for hanging banners on franklin?
	Wiley - Contact chamber of commerce and they will hang it.
	Wiley - Moves that no more than $2,275 be spent on Earth Week to be spent no later than April 	25, 2008.
	Approved.

C. Wiley - Bike Co-op discussion
	Wisa - Is it more than $200? We set aside $3,000.
	Hogan - Does anything on the list need to be purchased again in the future?
	Phillips - Some of the things will eventually need to be replaced but most are long lasting. 	Soliciting donations. Going through distributor because it is cheaper than retail.
	Givogue - Is anything bought with student money going to be sold back to students?
	Phillips - Yes. It is necessary to have some form of income to generate extra money to replenish 	shop necessities.
	Givogue - Not sure if it is ethical to use student money to buy things and sell it back to them.
	Wisa - This is for start up purposes so it can become sustainable.
	Wiley - Moves that no more than $1,042 be spent no later than April 5, 2008 on the Bike Co-Op.
	Approved.

D. Mozaffar - Moves amendments to the Student Senate Constitution
	Mozaffar - Sent out revised copy at 8 pm. Same as Sunday. Three duties of Vice President 
		1. Sit in absence of President 2. 	3.  Also added section 12 today saying if there is a 	vacancy in the office of the president the VP will take over and if there is no VP there will be a 	special election. Any constitutional amendments need to be voted on. This special election will 	have to be next week. If this passes tonight and the amendments pass and the constitution fails 	during the regular election, we would still have a VP next year.
	Szewczyk - Does not support the decision to hold a special election to vote on a new constitution.
	Wisa - Extremely opposed. Feels it should have been finalized earlier. Not comfortable doing this 	so fast. Does not see why it is being rushed. Should have done this through constitutional review. 	We should go into our next government with plans to change the constitution next spring. Not 	opposed to putting it on the spring ballot. Pushing it this early is too much. Agrees with Dr. 	Alberts. Feels like everyone will think Senate makes up rules and constitution as we go. We 	devoted an entire semester to budget review and we are now spending a meeting and a half to 	change the constitution. Worried about some of the wording. Does not like the president and vice 	president running on a ticket. Feels Bulldog Party is doing this to make sure parties exist in the 	future. Putting the ticket into the constitution states there will be parties in the government in the 	future. Feels if we want a vice president next year, the president should appoint them after the 	election. Could do this without a special election. Thinks a better solution would be to add a clause 	to the standing rules that states that candidates can run for a position that is proposed on a new 	constitution. If the constitution is approved the winning candidates will take office. If it is not 	approved, the offices will not exist. It would not make this look so rushed. 
	Hayes - Would not be opposed to a provision in the standing rules. This needs to happen this 	spring. This has been talked about for a long time now. Thinks it is something we all agree that we 	could use to our advantage next year. Has problems with having the vice president appointed or 	voted on next fall because the VP would not have been preparing with Senate over the summer. 	Wants this position to be most effective. This is something we can do this spring and it is important 	that we do so. Does not see a problem with a special election. If anything it will peak student 	interest. Sees students getting excited about this.
	Hogan - When the position is appointed it robs it of legitimacy. Students should have a say. Does 	not feel this is moving too quickly. If this does not pass now, this will be the second time we’ve 	choked on this issue. This is two clauses of last year’s proposed constitution. It is not the entire 	document and we do not have to spend a whole semester discussing it. What kind of pitfalls could 	come of this? Does not see the harm in making this small change now. The reason we are having 	this meeting tonight is to stay within our standing rules as far as special elections go.
	Flanagan - This needs to happen in the spring. More in favor of doing and “if and then statement” 	than waiting until the fall. Frightened of special elections. 300 people are not representative of the 	student body. Feels this is a huge change that needs to happen.
	Alberts - This document is not coherent. Does not think this has to be voted on by students. The 	VP works directly with senate as a support mechanism. A special election is a big deal. There have 	only been 4 in the past 7 years. If you are going to have one next week, there will be no free 	publicity. This will cost a couple hundred dollars. Supports idea of Vice President and was on the 	record as not wanting the position to be removed. It is up to you. This is just advice.
	Morrey - Is there any reason why there wasn’t something in writing like this from the last 	committee?
	Mozaffar - Has been in the loop about amendments and realized that changes were happening to 	the constitution.  There was such a favorable response during the retreat and felt we should do this 	for the spring ballot. Apologizes for the rush but didn’t realize the elections were so close. After 	retreat she realized the amount of Senate support. This has been outlined before. She just 	formalized it.
	Morrey - Feels this is an after thought. It should have been carefully planned.
	Mozaffar - It has been. This has been talked about for a long time. It has been in the works since 	last year. If someone doesn’t do something with it, it will be pushed under the rug again. Does not 	feel this is rushed into. Everyone at the retreat helped outline the VP’s roles.
	Wiley - Does not agree with an appointment in the fall because there would be no validity behind 	it. Such a high ranking position of the Student Senate should be approved by the students. Has an 	“if, then” clause ever been on the ballot before?
	Alberts - Yes but it also has stipulations concerning an interim period. Another option would be 	that the president would announce who they would appoint as VP during their campaign.
	Wiley - Thinks we can write a note to the student body and sending it out as a link. We have the 	power to put that message out there. Understands that the Index is not here, but if Matt wrote up a 	note and sent it out people would have the opportunity to vote.
	Givogue - Not opposed to the “if, then” clause. Downside would be students might not understand 	the clause or have the opportunity to learn about the position. With the special election, people 	would know for sure if the position existed and then if interested could pick up a packet to run. 	Anyone on campus can run for president and everyone should be aware of the new position.
	Risch - As it reads in the constitution, the VP would be second in command. Should not be 	appointed if they have the opportunity to rise to the position of President.
	Bates - Feels there is not enough time to inform students. Also can think of some students that 	would potentially think that if they vote in the special election they don’t have to vote in the spring 	election. If this was three weeks ago, we would be in a different conversation.
	Mozaffar - Willing to entertain the idea of a compromise if this does not pass. Feels we need to 	take the students with us. Feels like the compromise is a lot more complex. Students would be a lot 	more aware if we give them one issue at a time to avoid overwhelming them. This position is not 	controversial. We are creating a position to better serve the students. This position is to help the 	inner workings of senate and in turn the students. Historically, this position was removed because 	there was friction between the VP and president. Having a ticket could prevent this. 
	Hayes - Agrees with Risch. 
	Hogan - Has a problem promoting something that may not exist. Needs to be defined early so 	people aren’t campaigning on an idea that is not nailed down.
	Morrey - Does not feel that Senate should bend over backwards because someone forgot a date. If 	this is so important, write a note to yourself and start on it right away next semester.
	Schutter - Have you gone to the BOG and run this by them? (No). Going back to the retreat, he did 	point out that the majority of the group is intuitive. Feels like we are skipping important steps of 	the process. We need to go by the BOG.
	Alberts - Amend Article 2 Section 7 Clause 1 to state that the VP would have a vote on Ex Comm.
	Millburg - How crucial was the old role of VP?
	Alberts - The idea of the slate is a good one. When there was friction, they were voted on 	independently. One could start to undermine the other. When the VP moves to censure the 	President, it is not a good thing.  VP would fill role of vacant committee chairs. In the past, we 	have had VP’s who were trained to give personality testing.  They have been appointed in the past 	and have done a fine job. 
	Millburg - How vital does everyone feel this position is for next year? (Extremely)
	Mozaffar - Before Angela Crawford, Kirtland was president and became very ill. No one was 	available to step up and no one knew what to do. Yes we are passing this amendment for our old 	constitution, but at the same time we will be working on our new constitution. We can smooth out 	problems before the new constitution is voted on. The position will be present and working.
	Wisa - Is Pro-VP. Feels we have been without one for too long. Senate Morrey took words out of 	his mouth. Is all about procedure. There is a better way to get this done. Next year would be great, 	but the wheels of government move slowly. This is not the right way to do this. If we absolutely 	need this we can make it happen, but amending the constitution without significant review is not a 	good idea.
	Flanagan - Have a VP is extremely important. They would take up a lot of slack.
	Alberts - We need someone to do the duties of the VP. It may not be necessary to have the VP 	position.
	Miller - Unsure of how to vote on this. It has been suggested that this is a small decision because it 	only contains a few clauses. Any constitutional change is not a small decision. Think of the 14th 	amendment of the US Constitution. It has been suggested that if this is not done tonight, Senate 	will drop the issue. Is pro-VP but feels this is being rushed into. This will happen even if this does 	not pass tonight. It has been said that students might be blindsided by this. Students are not stupid 	and can figure out what they are voting on. This needs to be thought out heavily before we vote 	tonight. It will impact every student on campus.
	Amendment fails 8-5-0

Meeting adjourned at 10:09 PM.