Senate holds sixth meeting of semester

The Student Association Senate held its weekly meeting Tuesday in Lanigan 103 at 6 p.m.

Two new members joined the student senate this week. Twelve senators were in attendance, including the two new additions, allowing the student senate to meet quorum. The student senate motioned to amend the minutes from the previous week to change names of who nominated another senator to a committee in order for it to reflect the correct information. The amendment passed unanimously and the minutes were also approved.

A motion was made to alter the agenda to state the correct date. The motion was taken as a friendly and the date was changed from Oct. 29, 2014 to 2013. The agenda was then approved.

There were no guests to the student senate and no public comment.

The president addresses senate

President Anthony Smith addressed the senators and started off by discussing binders that contain information for senators. The binders were distributed to the senators before the session. They contain senate documents of importance and senators can store agendas and copies of legislation in them.

Smith told the student senate that as part of Humans vs. Zombies, they were helping host a “war” betweens the humans and the zombies in the Academic Quad and South Lawn. Participants paid two dollars for a headband to participate and the money goes to charity.

Smith told the senate that SA sponsored a night of scary movies on Wednesday in Campus Center 205 as an alternative for going out and drinking. The two movies shown were “Insidious” and “Jeepers Creepers.” He also suggested to senators that they attend Open Mic Night in Lake Effect Cafe on Halloween.

Smith updated the student senate on Oswego State adopting the Campus Safe application, which would be called Laker Safe. He said that the application has been proposed to administration and is “almost completely built.” Smith displayed the working application on the overhead projector. He showed how users can input emergency contacts and that the phone number for University Police would already be programmed into the application. The application contains a GPS and report system, where users can request assistance from UP. The application turns the traditional blue light into a blue button that notifies UP when held for a certain amount of time. Smith said that the application works off campus too.

Smith said that SA purchased finance and voting modules for LakerLife. Smith said the voting module will be helpful during general elections in the spring. The module shows live updates of election results, just like a ticker would show on television. Smith also discussed how surveys to students could be collected more easily through the module.

Vice president addresses senate

Vice President Benjamin June addressed the student senate briefly. He talked about how a member of the newly created Human Computer Interactions organization would like to take an overnight trip to Massachusetts Institute of Technology in November. However, the organization has no budget and would like to request financial assistance from SA. Senator Neely Laufer volunteered to work with the club on the bill to request money.

June also reminded the senators to use their binders.

Director of Finance addresses senate

Hassan Al-Shareffi, director of finance for SA addressed the student senate about their accounts. All the accounts remained the same except account 6502, the account for organizations, which will reflect changes once money designated last week to goes to the Latino Student Union for their annual dinner.

Al-Shareffi discussed how with the new module he will be going over how to submit budgets for next year with organizations. He said the process is similar to last year, except everything will now be in one place. He said that he is taking care of day-to-day tasks and contacted the insurance agency and lawyer to figure plans out for a bike club.

The director of finance also discussed how he is working on laying out criteria for his position which will need to be filled for next year. He said that a search committee will be formed and he will work with a human resources person from Auxiliary Services to search for the right person to fill the role. He expects to have the person begin shadowing him next semester.

Other directors address the senate

Director of Student Affairs Rhay Guillen told the student senate that he plans on holding a direct assembly on Nov. 14 at 6 p.m. in Campus Center room 114. He called it an opportunity for students to be heard. He also said that he is meeting with people to organize the leadership conference. He updated the student senate on the anti-hazing program set up for athletic clubs. Buttons that read “Don’t Haze Me Bro” are being distributed in Campus Center.

Guillen also discussed a Halloween weekend cleanup to give back to the community, especially after the littering of the Flat Rocks during Harborfest.

Christopher Collins-McNeil, civic engagement director, told the student senate he is organizing a “big event” before Thanksgiving. He is planning a civil rights panel and hopes that panelists will include Congressman Hakeem Jeffries of the 8th District of New York and Ilyasha Shabaz, Malcom X’s daughter.

Committee Reports

The Rules and Judiciary Committee approved a timeline for the election and are reading more on the SA code to see if anything needs to be changed. The committee meets every Monday at 7 p.m. in The Point.

The Finance and Appropriations Committee did not reach quorum to hold an official meeting. The committee meets Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m. in Lanigan 103.

The Involvement Committee participated in more tabling to let students know they are there and to hopefully recruit senators. They are working on posters for the residence halls so that students know who their senators are and what they look like. Senator Anthony Perez reminded the student senate to dress nice next week for photographs for the posters.

Legislation brought to the table

A bill from last week that requested $100 for ten tickets for the Go Green Team to attend the “Campus Life Peer Sustainability Educational Round Table” on Nov. 2 at Cornell University. An amendment to the bill was proposed since the club would only need four tickets. The amendment passed, however the bill did not. Al-Shareffi pointed out that even if passed, the money would not be transferred in time to fund the trip. He also noted that the organization has $1,000 in its budget and that the organization said the money it asked for was to save their budget for later on. The bill failed 1-11-0.

The elections timeline was brought to the floor. This legislation sets the timeline for the elections that begin next semester. The bill was passed by general consent.