Meeting minutes for Consolidated Student Senate, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, November 29, 1977

SENATE MEETING #21 November 29, 1977 Call to Order The twenty-first meeting of the Consolidated Student Senate was called to order by Chairman Ken Holt at 4:10 p.m. in Lounge 203 of the Student Union Building. II. Roll Call Members in attendance: absent excused: absent unexcused: Dawn DuCharme Lise Wyman Bob Biale John Dunkin Ingrid Hegedus Scott Hoover Lorraine Alderman Gretchen Smith Dave Bergen Jerry Gatch Chuck White Cindy Kiser Richard Simms Bill Botos Rob Nielsen Susana Reyes Gene Russo Don Soderberg Andre Bell Joe Matvay Leon Leavitt Bruce Bayne DeAnn Turpen (late) Peggy Burnham Greg McKinley III. Approval of Minutes Gene Russo called attention to one error in No. V. (Open Discussion) in the 2nd paragraph on page 2. Scott Lorenze explained the distribution of tickets and not Ken Holt as stated in the minutes. Error was duly corrected. The minutes for the 19th meeting of the Consolidated Student Senate were then passed unanimously. IV. Executive Board Announcements A. Presidential Host Fund Scott asked if there were any questions and Chuck White called attention to the fact that the last date showing payments was dated 10/29/77 and nothing as of 11/29/77. Scott explained that November had been very quiet and there were no bills received. Rob Nielsen questioned as to why the Dunes was always selected for lunches, etc. He said this was his only question as he was otherwise very impressed with the Host Fund. Ken explained the reason for selecting the Dunes was due to the very nominal prices offered by them. They pay a flat fee and that is it. There is no risk of having a guest order a $25.00 meal. He also explained they picked the Dunes because it was in a convenient location. There was a discussion regarding placing a ceiling on the amount that could be spent by the Host Fund and the Senate was informed that there was already a ceiling in the amount of $1,500 which had been okayed by the Board. There is no way to increase the ceiling unless it goes before the Board. Gene Russo made a motion to keep it as previously set in the amount of $1,500.00. Page 2 Senate Meeting #21 Chuck White wanted it to go on record that he felt $1,500.00 was too much and he was opposed to this amount for the Host Fund. Scott read a portion of a letter written by Wayne Williams, Controller of UNLV,which gave reference to the Host Fund ceiling as follows: "As you will note, CSUN's Host Fund as approved by the Senate June 29, 1976 under "Old Business", Section V, Part A had a figure of $1,500.00 per year. This amount was also approved by President Baepler. This will be the maximum amount allowed by the controller's office without additional CSUN and Senate action and President Baepler's approval for the period of July 1, 1977 to June 30, 1978." Scott then stated that in past years the Host Fund has been set at $1,500.00 and in order to change that amount it will have to get President Baepler's approval as well as the Senate. There was a call to the question of keeping the ceiling at $1,500.00 A motion was made and seconded with five (5) opposed, one (1) abstention. Motion passes. Scott announced there was a vacancy on the Senate Union Board and anyone interested should drop a resume' off at the CSUN office within the week. Scott also said he would like to set up a committee of student senators to investigate the mandatory athletic fee for the reinstatement of the athletic fee. Sidney Kaiser has expressed an interest in Scott of being Chairperson of this committee and he would like to put together a committee to look into the athletic fee, to meet with President Baepler, to meet with Coach Ireland in the next week or so in order to come up with some sort of an agreement. He asked that those persons who would like to be on the committee to please hold up their hands. So msny interested hands were raised that they were asked to come over and talk to him after the meeting. Scott said he would also like a committee to consist of two students, two senators along with himself, Ken Holt and John Hunt for a statue location committee. They will be meeting with the Planning Committee on the campus along with the architectural firm from San Francisco and others. Anyone interested should come and see him. He then announced that President Baepler will be at the next Senate meeting When the last meeting was cancelled, he was unable to attend today on such short notice. Scott asked anyone who had questions they wished to ask President Baepler, to please come prepared with them written down. Page 3. Senate Meeting No. 21 Open Discussion The meeting went to open discussion for 20 minutes. Rob Nielsen expressed his displeasure with the coverage given the Senate by The Yell. He thought it was not done very well. Bob Biale defended The Yell by commenting on the big improvement made by this publication over the past year. Chuck White also expressed his discouragement over the coverage given the Senators in The Yell. Don Sutton's comments were that when you talk about censoring or monitoring, they should not tell The Yell what to print...that the function of the press is to print things as they see it. Mrs. Shirley Willstead of the UNLV Art Club requested floor time to make the following comments: Her opening statement at the Senate Meeting and the comments therein were: "I didn't plan to speak. I just came up here to attend the meeting to listen and to ascertain. I am not an expert on art and I am not prepared with any facts, so please bear with me. To my knowledge, no one knew a statue was going to be constructed on the campus until a letter arrived. It is addressed Shirley Willstead, UNLV Art Club. The opening sentence is, " 'As you may already know, CS'JN and the UNLV Athletic Department are currently working together to build a statue of our Rebel Mascot.'" There was nothing in The Yell until the letter came out. That was the first I ever heard of it. Enclosed was a picture of the proposed statue. I showed it to several people in the department. We feel that if an art piece is going to be constructed, at least the UNLV Art Club should be consulted, and if CSUN funds are to be used and you people are in charge of that, the students should be consulted as to how their funds should be assigned and spent. i understand ,..and correct me if I am wrong...that CSUN's funds have already been submitted for this measure without anyone's knowledge, nobody knows about it. I disapprove of this. I think it is underhanded. I think it is a mis-use of funds and the constitution does not permit this. It is a fact you're fooling around with student money. Now it is all right when the Athletic Department ran out of funds and CSUN gave them ...Was it $8,000 or $10,000? (someone answered $20,000) to buy outfits for the cheerleaders." John Hunt spoke up and said it was $10,000 and not $20,000 that was budgeted for the year. Page 4. Senate Meeting No. 21 Mrs. Willstead continued: "$10,000 from the CSUN funds into the Athletic Department!" John Hunt interrupted and said, "No, it does not go into the Athletic Department. We control all the funds and justify every purchase. The money doesn't go there!" Mrs. Willstead then said, "I'd like to have it clarified...and I have a petition here and I've had no difficulty getting it signed. I'd like to read it to you for the records. It's a simple statement without adverse or emotion. It is addressed to UNLV Board of Regents and President Donald Baepler and CSUN President Scott Lorenz. PETITION....We the undersigned Students, Faculty and Staff do submit this petition in opposition to.... No. I. The placement on this campus of a proposed statue entitled "Pomning Rebel" to be executed by a person known as Montyne a total of $25,000. No. II. We the undersigned are opposed to any use of CSUN's funds for the statue. I am circulating this all over the campus and I hope to get enough signatures in the hope that we will get some recognition from whoever is trying to perpetrate this act without very much cooperation from the students. After all, you are a body of the students. You're not autonomous. No body is autonomous in this university and I think sometimes we forget that. Maybe we should think about that a little bit. Secondly, the staff is not considered to be any kind of rapport by anybody I have talked to. Anybody considered I can look at...you can make up your own mind. A few people say, 'Well, I think it is kind of cute'.' Don't pass your opinion ...because anyone trained at all in art can definitely see it is something that you would not wish to leave on the campus for future generations to point out with scorn and say, 'Look what they left us!' I thank you." Ken Holt addressed Mrs. Willstead with the question,"Are you not aware that the Senate Minutes are posted to inform the staff?" To which there was no audible reply. Scott Lorenz then addressed Mrs. Willstead and asked, "Is it Mrs. Willstead or Ms?" She replied, "Mrs." Mr. Lorenz than spoke and said, "Mrs. Willstead, okay. The proposed statue that CSUN and the Athletic Department have been working on started in July of this year. There was an article in the newspaper... I am not sure exactly what week...but it was either September or October talking about the Senate's action regarding the statue. The Senate gave us a vote of confidence in pursuing this matter further during the meeting. A picture of the Rebel Statue was also shown. Shortly thereafter, another article appeared in The Yell with the same picture telling how the money was going to be donated. It also stated the artist was the internationally famous Montyne who has sculptured statues in front Page 5. Senate Meeting No. 21 of Caesars Palace, Circus Circus, and has painted murals inside many other hotels in Las Vegas. There was plenty publicity; it appeared at least two times to my knowledge. The statue will be paid for by donations from student organizations, from civic organizations, from politicians, and from the Alumni Association to name a few. To give you an example of the people who have already donated to the statue, we have received $500.00 from Regent Chris Karamanos, we have received $500.00 from the UNLV Alumni Association, therefore their support, we have also received $500.00 from the Athletic Department. Another $1,000 from individual donations have been received this week. Kappa Sigma Phi donated $150.00, Alpha Kapp Psi has donated $150.00 and so have other sutdent organizations. The statue soes cost $25,000...but the majority of it will be paid for by donations. This campus is 13 years old. It has few traditions and I don't know about you...but I have seen over two dozen college campuses in the past 2-1/2 years and I see statues on those campuses, I see large trees, I see fountains, I see benches, I see a hell of a lot of tradition that we don't have at this campus,...and the reason we got started in the project in the first place is that I feel that we need to create tradition on the campus of UNLV..and there may be some people who do not agree with that. I have been working for tradition for the past three years on this campus, I will continue to do so! As final statement, the cards that you have..that were sent to you in the mail...were paid for by Bill Morris of the Holiday Casino. Thank you!" (Please note: The recorded statements of Mrs. Willstead and Scott Lorenz were included so that the entire contents will be on record.) Chuck White asked how much had CSUN paid out of CSUN funds toward the statue and Scott answered $1,000 that was allowed them to get started with the project. Mrs. Willstead spoke up and asked that she be placed on the agenda for the next meeting but Ken replied he wanted to have the opportunity to talk to faculty members first. VI. Committee Reports A. Activities Board 1. Graduates $750.00 Steve Francis said the entire show of The Graduates would probably cost around $5,000. Tickets for students will be $3.00 and $5.00 for general public. There will probably be a small loss. A motion was made and seconded in favor of showing The Graduates. Motion passed unanimously. 2. Basketball Ticket Distribution Committee There was no discussion since it was all down in the minutes of the 19th meeting. Page 6. Senate Meeting No. 21 John Hunt gave a report on the USUNA Conference that starts this Friday, December 2, 1977 at the Flamingo-Capri Hotel. Included on the agenda will be a resolution for qualifications of the next Chancellor and the induction of delegates and non-delegates. The delegates are Ken Holt, Scott Lorenz, Jerry Catch and Peggy Burnham. They have openings for three non-delegates. Anyone wishing to be a non-delegate should see him after the meeting. Appropriations Committee John reported he chairs this committee and announced there are two senate seats open and one non-seante open. Anyone wishing to be on this committee should also contact him. Organization Committee John Reported there will be a meeting this Thursday at 4:00 p.m. in the Fireside Lounge. Ken Bott, thanked everyone for the matching funds which they did not use due to a cancellation of the Ski Trip and which they have already turned over to the treasurer. Presidential Nominations 1. Sam Iorio, Associate Justice Ingrid Hegedus made a motion to have the voting cast by secret ballot, seconded by Bob Biale. Motion passed. Ken said he had the secret ballots in his office and requested time to go get them. Ingrid Hegedus then made a motion to give Ken time to go to his office for the ballots, seconded by DeAnn Turpen. Motion passed with one opposed. Recess called at 4:50 p.m, Meeting resumed at 5:03 p.m. Ken asked if there were any discussions on the candidates. Gene Russo opened the discussion by stating that he had worked with Sam Iorio before and that Sam is very knowledgable of law. There being no more discussion, the senate moved into the vote. The secret ballots showed 12 in favor of Sam Iorio, 4 against and 4 abstentions. Sam Iorio elected as Associate Justice. 2. By-Laws Committee Bruce Bayne, Peggy Burnham, Lisa Wyman and an addition of Lorraine Alderman. Activities Board: Lora Miller Academic Standard: Russell Joy Senate Info Sheet: Cretchen Smith Page 7 Senate Meeting No. 21 Matching Funds Request (vote) John Hunt announced that in the By-Laws, matching funds say $1.00 for every $2.00. For the past three years they find they have been working in violation of the By-Laws. The President and John want to put in an amendment to the present By-Laws. The matching funds of $500.00 were approved for Kappa Sigma Phi before they realized they were in violation of the By-Laws; however, Kappa Sigma Phi has more than raised the amount of $1.00 for $2.00. John felt that they should not be punished for the mistake of the administration. After further discussion there was a call to the question. Motion passed with one against to issue a check in the amount of $500.00 for matching funds to Kappa Sigma Phi. Emanon - Matching Funds Bob Lawson gave a report on his request for $500.00 matching funds and said they will only need around $400.00 now. After discussions from the floor, there was a call to the question for matching funds in the amount of $266.00 since Emanon could not come up with the required 2 for 1. Passed with none against and no abstentions. Susanne Reyes made a motion for a secret ballot, seconded by Lisa Wyman. Secret ballot results in favor of Emanon receiving matching funds of $266.00: 17 in favor, two against and no abstentions. Motion passed. VIII. New Business There being no new business listed on the agenda, Jerry Gatch made a motion for the meeting to adjourn, seconded by Dave Bergen. The meeting adjourned at 5:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted by Florida Edwards CSUN Secretary -30-