The Student Association held their third weekly meeting of the semester Tuesday evening. Fourteen senators were present for the meeting.
Sarah Woods, a senator from last year, was sworn in for another term. Another new senator took the SA oath and was sworn in. The minutes from last week’s meeting were approved and the agenda was amended as needed.
There were no guests to the senate.
Renee Ricketts, SA assistant director of public relations, made a public comment. She discussed the event “Freshman Fun Day,” which will serve as an information session for freshmen to know more about SA and be introduced to, and learn more about, clubs and organizations on the Oswego State campus.
In executive reports, SA President Tucker Sholtes took to the floor and said he is still looking for senators to attend the SUNY SA Fall Conference at the RIT Inn and Conference Center in Rochester on Oct. 16. Sholtes also reported that he is still looking for senators to become members of the many committees on campus. A lot of campus committees are asking for student representation on their boards.
Sholtes also said he would like senators to serve as a student representative on the faculty assembly. In that scenario, a student would have a say in major decisions made by the administration.
SA Vice President Neely Laufer was not able to attend last week’s meeting due to personal reasons. She said to the senate that the agenda for all senators will go paperless in an effort to be more green-friendly. She will now email the agenda to each senator before every meeting. Laufer also commented on the SUNY SA conference, as she attended it last year. She said she had a blast and would encourage senators to attend. She also said she would like to have a senator secretary to take minutes during each meeting.
Elena Sanchez, director of finance, spoke to the senate about the proposed alternative Bridge Street Run event happening on May 8, 2015. In an effort to steer students away from the annual bar crawl, SA is proposing to spend $150,000 to fund a concert featuring a very big artist. Sanchez said that for the $150,000 to go through, SA will have to let one of their accounts run into the red.
Ryan Hopf, President Sholtes’ chief of staff, spoke briefly to the senate on how he will be running a committee in preparation of the SUNY SA conference Oswego State is holding Nov. 7-9. Hopf is looking for senator participants in that committee to help coordinate the various activities that will be going on during the conference.
In committee reports, Rules and Judiciary Chair Jillian Kranz said they met last week and discussed the $150,000 event proposal and decided on an official meeting time.
Finance Committee Chair Tyler Jodeit said the committee was unable to meet last week because of the holiday but have been working on the referred DECA amendment. DECA is an international association of high school and college students that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges across the globe. DECA is looking for money to fund various events on campus.
Jodeit and Student Involvement Committee Chair Shantol Williams both nominated themselves, and were accepted to be a part of the Rules and Judiciary and Student Involvement committees. It is a requirement for each senator to participate in at least one SA committee.
In hall council reports, Sen. Kranz said that hall council meetings will be starting soon and SA senators that live in a residence hall should attend those hall council meetings.
The senate examined SLE 50.02, which would fund men’s club volleyball with $1,525 for funds, new jerseys, new equipment and transportation to and from games. Last year’s men’s club volleyball captain of the team suffered injuries and never filed a budget for this year. The bill was referred to the finance committee for a period of one week.
The senate also examined the bill RES 50.02, which would enact Oswego State to launch its own campaign on sexual assault prevention, an act colleges across the nation are doing in the wake of President Obama’s “It’s On Us” campaign initiated on Sept. 19. The bill was discussed by senators.
“We really haven’t been involved in many national things,” Sen. Kranz said. “This would open a lot of conversation and get people involved.”
Sholtes said the White House approved the school’s use of the campaign’s logo and SA would conduct tabling on the campaign.
“This won’t just be about the students. It’s going to be the whole campus and this will help this issue stand out and help prevent sexual assault,” SA director Jerri Drummond said.
The SA senate meets every Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Lanigan 102 and all meetings are open to the public.
