Meeting minutes for Consolidated Student Senate University of Nevada, Las Vegas, November 03, 1993

O f f i c e of t h e S e n a t e President University of Nevada, Las Vegas Student Government i MINUTES SENATE MEETING 24-01 MOYER STUDENT UNION, ROOM 2 01 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1993 5:00 PM I. SENATE PRESIDENT BENNEMAN called the meeting to order at 5:16 PM. II. ROLL CALL POBST PI DA BOIXO (late) VODRAZKA MARTIN FOX BLOCK HUCK ALLISON AMEND CAMPBELL CHELLINO ELLIOTT GORDON HADDOCK JOHANNSSON MCMILLIN POPICK (late) RENTERIA (late) SALIBA SCHWARTZ SENATE PRESIDENT BENNEMAN verified with ELECTIONS BOARD MEMBER DEBRA PLANELLS, conduit have met CSUN requirements for senators and that they were duly elected under the CSUN Constitution. III. READING/ADMINISTRATING THE OATH OF OFFICE TO THE SENATE ELECT FOR THE TWENTY FOURTH STUDENT GOVERNMENT SENATE. CHIEF JUSTICE MOON administered oath. IV. STATE OF THE SENATE ADDRESS SENATE PRESIDENT BENNEMAN (may be paraphrased): "Being senators means there is alot of work ahead. You represent 13,492 undergraduate students to date. That number might have changed due to yesterday being the 4505 SOUTH MARYLAND PARKWAY • LAS VEGAS, NEVADA 8 9 1 5 4 • ( 7 0 2 ) 7 3 9 - 3 4 7 7 • FAX ( 7 0 2 ) 5 9 7 - 4 6 0 6 PRESENT ABSENT GTUCi^C^'EripniTOfCS. PAGE TWO ' ; Senate Minutes 24-01 r if n - FM US FEB 1*3 5 os AH J final day to drop classes. This is a big responsibility. Each week you will receive an agenda in your boxes. Agendas will be issued on Fridays (except holidays, Thursday). I challenge you to look at your agendas, and consult your colleges. Your perception of the agendas will change with the amount of information you obtain. I encourage you to do as much research as possible. Many senators come before the senate and vote on issues without any prior research. Come into the office as much as possible. You should look for the director's office hours and make an appointment with them to have them explain items to you. Your perception about an item will be influenced by the information you obtain. That is a senator's biggest challenge of all. You must be open-minded, but at the same time, you must stand by your convictions. There will be successes and failures, but leave the battles here. Don't take the issues personally, it will damper our productivity. Spend energy on positive actions, not negative ones. You can make a difference. When I was a senator, I wrote legislation to change issues that I felt were wrong. Against other people's opinions, I went ahead with the idea. There is a story about a boy at the beach. One day there was a big storm coming in, which caused thousands of star fish to be thrown up on the beach. These star fish couldn't make their way back into the ocean. This little kid spent the whole day picking up the star fish and putting them back into the water. A man came along. He began to ridicule the boy and asked him, "What are you doing? Obviously you can't save all the star fish. There are thousands of them." The boy bowed his head in shame for a moment and thought about what the man had said. Then he picked up a star fish and threw it back into the water. He looked up at the man and said, "Yes, but for one, I made a difference!" As senators, if you can make a difference for one student, then you will have accomplished your job as a senator. Students come into CSUN all the time with little disputes. We can advise students on what to do. Refer them to the appropriate committees. You will be asked to sit on two committees. You have the list in front of you in the memo. I encourage you to pick a committee. You are the representative voice of your college, and that is very important. This is an advisory student government. We are not controlled by the administration. Many times we have, and we will fight the administration when necessary. There are alot of challenges that face us. If we can make a difference " " " ] " • . ' • .-VADA PAGE THREE Senatef^i^t^^O^, for one student then you have fulfilled your obligation of being student senators. You have to support what position your college takes. I welcome you to the senate. I challenge you to the senate and hope that you get alot out of it. You will only get out of the senate what you put into it. If you become a senator that picks up the minutes, just before the meeting, you will not get very much out of it. Neither will the people that you are representing. With that I challenge you to do a good job, welcome you, and congratulate all of you." V. ANNOUNCEMENTS PRESIDENT JOEL KOSTMAN announced his welcome to the new senators. He stated that there was a big challenge ahead. He reguested that the senators from Liberal Arts and Health Sciences see him after the meeting. He reguested that the senators come in and get to know the executive board, stating that they were always in the offices. He also announced that the senate chambers was for the senators. Joel said that the newspaper states that he is mean. Joel stated that he was not mean, so senators should come in and talk to him anytime. VICE PRESIDENT JAY JAY HELD announced that she wanted to welcome everyone into the twenty-fourth senate session. She stated that her door was always open. She asked that all new senators please come by and get to know the executive board and the directors. SENATE PRESIDENT BUD BENNEMAN announced that his office extension was 3644 (with voice mail). Senators should contact him if they have any guestions. He reguested that the senators be on time to future meetings, with no excuses. He stated that the only acceptable excuses would be an emergency, class, work, etc. Bud stated that there needed to be 2/3 (14) of the senators present at senate meeting to make guorum. He announced that at the next meeting there would be a senate handbook with the CSUN constitution, bylaws, and operating policies to distribute to all the senators. VI. BOARD AND COMMITTEE REPORTS A. SENATE COMMITTEE REPORTS Bylaws Committee - no chair - no announcements. FEB 15 9 os fir34 PAGE SEVEN Senate Minutes 24-01 Ways and Means Committee - CHAIR SENATOR MARTIN had no announcements. B. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE REPORTS ENTERTAINMENT & PROGRAMMING DIRECTOR NALDER welcomed all the new and old senators. She announced that the UNLV Thunder Night would be on November 5, 1993. She handed out tickets; two per senator, and four per executive board member. Secondly, she announced that she was trying to change the current entertainment & programming operating policy, stating that the current policy allows two tickets for senators, four tickets for executive board members, and only one ticket for entertainment and programming board members. She answered questions about the limit of board members. She stated that she has a ten person limit and must have three senators on the board. She requested approval of Walt Vodrazka to be on the board, which would be the third senator on the board. NEVADA STUDENT AFFAIRS DIRECTOR SMITH welcomed all the new and old senators. He announced that he was forming a committee and would like anyone interested in being on the committee to please contact him. SENATE PRESIDENT BENNEMAN announced that Patrick Smith's job as Nevada Student Affairs Director was to help the executive board and to handle grievances or legal situations this year. ORGANIZATIONS BOARD DIRECTOR MARSHALL announced his welcome of the new and old senators. He stated that if senators needed anything from the directors, to check their office hours and they would all be happy to answer any questions. He also announced that the organizations board meets every two weeks. He stated that he helped the executive board find new and different things this year. OFFICE OF STUDENT INFORMATION DIRECTOR RAPUANO announced congratulations to the new and old senators. She stated that she finished the fliers for Career Day and that the Student Services Director would be finishing the event. She also stated that part of her job was to place events in the Student Government page of the , -V,, „. -, . r H 'E hi 0 Ft is. , R Q F-U » Q T L PAGE F I V E FEB N ^ J Senate Minutes 24-01 newspaper. She answered questions from SENATOR MARTIN concerning Career Day. She stated that Career Day would be some time in March. C. BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT REPORTS SENATE PRESIDENT BENNEMAN announced that BUSINESS MANAGER SNYDER was out of town for her marriage and excused her report. KUNV INTERIM GENERAL MANAGER SCOTT-WEISS announced her welcome to the new and old senators and answered questions about the radio station. She stated that it is a twenty-four hour station with a variety of music. HEALTH CENTER LIAISON KANDCER announced that the health center is free for physician and nursing practitioners and that the lab fees cost money. He also announced that the health center offers confidential AIDS testing on Thursdays. He stated that next semester the AIDS Memorial Quilt will be at UNLV. He also stated that the health center currently treats between forty to sixty patients daily. He added that private insurance is going up for students and that increases in fees went up twenty-five percent in 1991 and thirty-five percent in 1992. He stated that the health center is working on trying to set up a new health insurance plan for students, but added that right now there is nothing they could do about the price increases except continue to fight the fee increase. He announced that other problems included a new law that required international students to have $50,000 in private coverage. Adding that it was possible that fees might be lowered by trying to set up a gate plan where students would go to the health center first before going to an off campus physician. VII. UNFINISHED BUSINESS No unfinished business. VIII.NEW BUSINESS A. Approval of a change in the operating policy for the entertainment and programming board. The proposed change in section III-A would allow board members to receive two tickets to events. CCKSii: i ;,' ;"cD STUDENTS 31U D € H ' V. 0 ; « s f-t r N T 0 F C UHIVERJ'T; or NEVADA PAGE SIX r ,r » ,,, . Senate Minutes 24-01 FEB 15 i M M The current policy allows one ticket per board member. Motion to approve by SENATOR BOIXO, seconded by SENATOR POBST. Joined by Senator Popick and Senator Renteria at 5:50 PM (21 senators present at this time) Discussion on new business item A insued. SENATOR BOIXO stated that "we should go for it. There is alot of work for the board members and no one wants to go to an event by themselves." SENATOR POBST stated that they do more than their share of the work and deserved the tickets. Item was approved 21-0-0. B. Approval of Senator Vodrazka as a senate member on the entertainment arid programming board. Motion to approve by SENATOR POBST, seconded by SENATOR PIDA. Discussion of new business item B insued. SENATOR BOIXO stated that Walt deserved it. SENATOR PIDA stated that Walt was always helping and he flipped pretty good burgers. Item approved 21-0-1. C. Picture and composite for the twenty-fourth CSUN Student Body Senate. SENATE PRESIDENT BENNEMAN stated that this item was out of order. IX. OPEN DISCUSSION SENATOR SCHWARTZ announced that he was glad to be here and will do his best. Also stated that he will always be available. SENATOR SALIBA apologized for being late and stated that he was glad to be here. He added that he hoped that he can contribute to the senate. SENATOR RENTERIA apologized for being late. He stated that we was glad to be here and looked forward to a wonderful year. SENATOR POPICK apologized for being late and said that there would be no future problems with the time for the .meetings. He added that he was looking forward to the challenge. SENATOR MCMILLIN stated that she was not late and welcomed everyone. She congratulated Walt on his appointment. .TuncvtCoJ^NH^VoFGS-UHWERS5T? OF KEVm FEB 15 9 OT ATT 'S4 PAGE SEVEN Senate Minutes 24-01 SENATOR JOHANNSSON announced that she was glad to be here. She stated that it has been a long time since she was here, seven years. She hoped that the term will go well. SENATOR HADDOCK welcomed all the new senators and the returning senators and hoped that the term would be a productive one. SENATOR GORDON said hello to everyone. He stated that he would be leaving his job soon to devote his semester to school activities. SENATOR ELLIOTT stated he was glad to be here and was looking forward to the year. He stated that he had lots of free time to help out. SENATOR CHELLINO stated that she was glad to be here and hoped to meet everyone. SENATOR CAMPBELL announced that she was excited about being here and looked forward to meeting and working with everyone. SENATOR ALLISON welcomed everyone and looked forward to working with everyone. SENATOR AMEND stated he was glad to be here and was hoping for a successful term. SENATOR HUCK stated he was excited about being here, hoped it would be a great senate term and looked forward to working with everyone. He stated that he was always around and would be available. He also stated that he would be starting in a new fraternity. SENATOR BLOCK welcomed all the new senators and said hi to all the old senators. She thought this year would be alot of fun. SENATOR FOX congratulated everyone. SENATOR MARTIN told all the senators to get ready to work, being a senator was work. He also told all the senators to promote the Thunder ticket sales, stating that it was a great buy. On a serious note, he reguested that some of the senators come to the parking and traffic meetings in order to appreciate how wonderful the senate meetings were. He thought that !*-• fi C, '; J if •• " f Yj S J I; 0 E H T ^ • ,-R| I R.C V R P J-Y./ R 5/ U Q R QB.. FEB iS PAGE SEVEN Senate Minutes 24-01 the senate meetings were very professional. SENATOR BOIXO said hello and welcome. She thought the tickets are outrageous. SENATOR VODRAZKA welcomed everyone from the college of engineering. Stated that they were getting their act together at the college. He stated that if anyone had any guestions, they should contact him or Jodi. SENATOR PIDA stated that he did not think that the lack of participation at the last game was due to the lack of beer for students. He thought that the poor attendance was due to the one in seven record and the holidays. SENATOR POBST said hello to all the new and old senators and stated that she was glad to be here. She stated that everyone should try to make it to all the meetings and should get involved, note just vote. PRESIDENT KOSTMAN welcomed everyone again. He was happy to see all the familiar faces in the gallery. He thanked Justice Moon for coming and swearing everyone in. He stated that Senator Martin was right about how other meetings are run. He reminded everyone to come down and get to know the executive board and to feel free to talk to him. He talked about a special award that had been given to Student Government that had not been released to the press. He told the senators that if they were interested, to come to his office. VICE PRESIDENT HELD repeated her welcome. She stated that she was looking forward to meeting each and every senator. SENATE PRESIDENT BENNEMAN (may be paraphrased): "The new senate secretary is Debra Planells. She will handle your boxes for you. Her job is to distribute all the correspondence for you. Your correspondence and agendas will be put in there. We will try to get things to you as soon as possible. There are some bylaws which reguire a time restraint, it varies from thing to thing. The agenda will be in your box and posted by Friday, 9:00am. The meetings are on Wednesdays now, but next semester they will be moved to Thursdays at 5:00pm in MSU 201. It is nice to see everyone here. Mike Aloyian (Elections Board Director) and I went out and advertised these elections. That is why we had 48 people file for the 21 seats. Last year coNs;n• i:. sTtJOgNU STUDENT HclHEHT 0FC UHiVcr!^'!TV CF fiv'VADA r m q ni f-M. *Q[J PAGE NINE rEB P 3 0/ Ji Senate Minutes 24-01 we elected 9 people for the 21 seats. The rest were filled by openings. The fact that you had to earn your position, I hope will make you more responsible. One thing you will find out is the press isn't going to write anything positive about you. They are not going to tell you what a great job you do. You take the abuse and get criticized some times, but the experience you are getting out of it is worth it. So, go for it! As far as the parking and traffic committee comment, that is how we won the $25.00 parking fee. They did not know how to us Robert's Rules of Order, and we took it right out from under them. I have seen people discuss an item and then call the guestion. You can not talk for 15 minutes and then call the guestion. Ironically, when the person called for the guestion, everyone went along with it. Hopefully you will be getting alot out of being senators. Voting unanimously surprises me. We have a dinner after the meeting in room 202. We will have the composites shortly. The pro-tempore that is going to be elected is an important position. One of the things about being a pro-tempore, you lose your ability to speak. As the pro-tempore, you really aren't supposed to be giving alot of information. The pro-tempore is there to make sure that the meeting is going right. Whoever you elect, make sure they have a good knowledge of Robert's Rules of Order. The pro-tempore is elected by you to represent the senate. There are times I want to speak on an issue, then the gavel will be passed to the pro-tempore. If he has spoken, it cannot be passed. So think about the pro-tempore. There are the committees before us. The rules committee is one of them. Senators need to do speeches to their classes from their colleges. One of the important things that we have to do this term is revise our constitution. I need a chair for the committee. The revision relates to colleges that are not being represented in the senate and other studies. Our constitution says we only recognize official colleges. We need to revise the constitution to represent almost 1000 students that are not in official colleges. All the committees are important. When you chair a committee, you lose your ability to speak because you can't take a side on anything. Think about these committees. Stop by my office, I will be glad to explain the committee to you. I will get your constitutions to you as soon as possible. Get on these committees, it is extremely important.11 -itr' '' ^ ( ' !<M E NT 0 F C 3., UNlVtno . fa 15 9 OT PAGE SEVEN Senate Minutes 24-01 XI. ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn by SENATOR MARTIN, seconded by SENATOR GORDON. Motion passed 21-0-0 at 6:11pm. Senate President Benneman (^.jPdmporAry "Typist, Lori Callison BB/lc